OFFICIAL DISPATCHES 



— AND — 

LETTERS ' "' 

V 



REAR ADMIRAL Du PONT, 



U . S . NAVY. 



1846-48. 1861-63. 



WILMINGTON, DEL. 

PRESS OF FERRIS BROS., PRINTERS. 

1883. 






AUG 12 192/ 



Samuel Francis Du Pont, Rear Admiral United 
States Navy, va. oorn at Bergen Point, New Jersey, 
September 27th, 1803, of French parentage and descent. 

He was the son of Victor - Marie Du Pont and 
GabrieHe - Josephine de la Fite de Pelleport, daughter 
of the Marquis de Pelleport. 

Du Pont de Nemours, Admiral Du Font's grand- 
father, well known for his long connection with public 
affairs in France, came to America with his sons 
during the closing months of the last century. After 
a temporary sojourn in New York and New Jersey, 
the sons established themselves in Delaware, of which 
State they became citizens. 

Admiral Du Pont was appointed a midshipman in 
the navy by President Monroe, on the 19th of De- 
cember, 18 1 5, and for almost fifty years faithfully 
served his country. 

Believing that the official dispatches, relating to 
the wars in which he took part, would be of interest 
to his family and friends, his widow has had them 
printtd. 

LouviERS, June, 1883. 






OFFICIAL DISPATCHES 

— OF — 

ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 



MEXICAN WAR. 



United States Ship Cyane, 
Port of San Diego, Wednesday, July 29th, 1846. 

Commodi re R. F. Stockton, Commander-in-Chief, etc., 
United States Frigate Congress, 
San Pedro : 

Sir: — I have to report that, after a rapid passage, 
I anchored here at meridian to-day, and at 4 o'clock 
p. m. the American flag was hoisted by Lieutenant 
Row an, and the place immediately garrisoned by the 
marine guard. So soon as time had been allowed 
for this, Brevet-Major Fremont landed with a portion 
of h:s troops; the boats having pulled some distance 
up tiie river, it was not possible nor necessary to make 
a se';ond trip, but all will follow at daylight. Owing 
to the scarcity of water, the camp will have to be 
locat'ed near the Presidio. Immediately after our arri- 
val two or three mounted men appeared at the port, 
and on the heights, reconnoitring, and soon after a 
band of horses, some owned by Americans, were driven 
off, from near the hide-houses, with great speed. This 
operation, witnessed from the ship, was performed by 
Andreas Pico, a brother to Pio Pico. * * * 



2 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I have directed Lieutenant Rowan to secure him, 
as the possession of his person, besides commanding 
any number of horses, will be of service otherwise ; 
it is thought he will give himself up on parole. 
Upon an emphatic demand being made of the Prefect, 
the horses driven off were brought Lack in the evening. 

I have further to inform you that I arrived just in 
time to prevent the sailing of the Juanita, .hermaphro- 
dite brig, that was unmooring when we came in. She 
came in here with a Mexican flag, having been to Maz- 
atlan with a Mexican pass ; so reports her supei cargo. 
Immediately on hoisting our colors she showed the 
Hawaiian flag ; her crew were shipped to-da\ ; the 
second Alcalde of San Diego was on board cf her, 
and Andreas Pico had been down just before ac an- 
chored. She gave out that she was bound to San 
Pedro ; but if the report that Castro is nine miles 
from here be true, my impression is that he v\as to 
have embarked in her this afternoon ; if not, to go on 
board of her at some near point on the coast. She 
has recently changed owners ; her captain is av the 
Pueblo, according to the supercargo, detained there on 
business, but, by the mate's account, by sickness. Alto- 
gether being very suspicious, I took upon myself to 
detain her for the present, and thus cut off Castro's 
retreat by sea. 

The little chart of the coast I^ had was of ser- 
vice, though not correct by any means. I intcr;d to 
have a line of soundings run. I found this ship very 
deficient in her supply of charts, Arrowsmith'.? be- 
ing very incorrect ; fortunately I had the coarse litho- 
graphed one of this part of the coast, procured at the 
Sandwich Islands, which is more accurate. This was 
fortunate, for 1 had no observations from the d.iy I 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 3 

left until yesterday. We saw a small island north- 
west by west from San Miguel, and passed within a 
mile of it ; not laid d .>wn on any chart here, and I 
believe on no other 

This, sir, is the amount of information which the 
first day's arrival has enabled me to report. I shall 
avail myself of every opportunity to inform you of 
events in th'^ quarter. 

I h?ve the honor to be, sir, with great respect, 
your ooedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Commander, United States Navy. 

II p. m. — Lieutenant Rowan has returned on 
board ; he reports the authorities as with us in feel- 
ing, but, fearing to compromise themselves in case of 
the flag coming down, declined active co-operation. 
Great joy prevailed among women and children at 
the appearance of our people, they having been kept 
in constant terror by Castro. The Alcaldes are to 
deci'ie if they would continue their functions ; the 
Custom House officer has agreed to serve. 

P. S. — Thursday, 30th. — The remainder of Brevet- 
Major Fremont's party landed early this morning. 
The report of Castro being in this vicinity is contra- 
dicted ; he is said to be at Pueblo. Andreas Pico 
left last evening, not having been seen except whilst 
the flag of truce was flying. 

S. F. D. P. 



4 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

United States Ship Cyane, 
Port of San Diego, July 31, 1846. 
Commodore R. F. Stockton, Commanaer-in-Chief, etc.. 
United States Frigate Congress : 

Sir: — My communication, No. i, will have informed 
you of my proceedings up to yei.terday morning ; of 
the American flag having been hoisted by Lieutenant 
Rowan, and the town of San Diego garnsoned by the 
Marine Guard under Lieutenant Maddox ; of ♦:he landing, 
immediately afterwards of the battalion undc Major 
Fremont, and the promise of the authorities to inform 
me if they would continue to hold office under the 
new order of things. 

I proceeded yesterday to the town, and was waited 
upon by the civil authorities, who, while expressing 
every friendly feeling towards the present movement, 
and promising all their influence as citizens to pre- 
serve the peace of the place, informed me that they 
had concluded to resign their offices, having received 
them from other powers, etc. I represented to them 
the advantages of a different course, but without ef- 
fect. They proposed a meeting of the citizens to ap- 
point their successors, subject to my approval ; this of 
course I encouraged, and the meeting was held, but of 
the persons elected. Captain Fitch, one of them, declined 
serving. The late civil authority is therefore at an 
end in San Diego ; but the very small population, their 
quiet and orderly character, and their friendly feelings 
towards us, keep me from apprehending much trouble 
in consequence. There was an exception to the gene- 
ral resignation of those holding office. Don I*edro 
Carillo, a very prepossessing person, speaking English 
fluently, and the son-in-law of Senor Bardini, a mem- 
ber of the Mexican Congress, who has offered us the 
hospitalities of his house, has agreed to continue as 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 5 

Administrator of the Customs. I propose to make 
him in addition, the Chief Alcalde, but have not yet 
ascertained whether he will fill this place. The only 
preventative to almost universal approval and co-ope- 
ration on the part of the citizens is the doubt as to 
their future security of person and property, as well 
as present protection. The people of San Diego have 
resisted all the appeals of Castro's agents to join him, 
and are naturally in terror lest before the war be 
brought to a close, they should be left unprotected. 
I should be pleased to receive your instructions as to 
what course shall be pursued, in case trading vessels 
arrive, how to be entered, and what tariff of duties 
collected, etc. I pi'esume no duties, except harbor and 
tonnage, can be charged those having articles of American 
manufacture only. 

Going to town on Friday afternoon, I learned from 
Major Fremont that he had been advised of the pos- 
sibility of a night attack by Castro and his forces, 
under the impression that the town was defended only 
by our Marine Guard, his troops having reached it only 
after night-fall on Wednesday, previous to which An- 
dreas Pico had left for the Pueblo. A messenger was 
immediately dispatched to the ship, and in incredibly 
short time a reinforcement of about one hundred sea- 
men, under Lieutenant Rowan, came into the town, well 
armed, and marching like regular troops. A detach- 
ment was also left with the launch and gun, to defend 
the hide-houses near the beach. But the enemy did 
not appear, nor was it possible, upon a reconsideration 
of the distance, for him to have done so. The men 
have remained up at the town, and will continue there 
until the probability of such an occurrence has ceased, 
being present myself at night with them. * * * 



% 



6 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

From the day of my arrival, with the assistance 
of Major Fremont, I have made every effort to get a 
courier to carry these communications to you, but it is 
conceived next to impossible for a messenger to reach 
San Pedro ; if escaping with his life, his dispatch would 
be taken. As the same difficulty will occur, probably, 
with your own efforts to send one this way, I pur- 
pose forwarding this by one of the ship's boats, which 
I believe can be done at little hazard. * * * * 
The gathering in of horses has been slow, yet it pro- 
gresses ; some sixty have been procured ; we cannot 
learn that any have been driven off. 

Lieutenant Harrison has been employed survey- 
ing the harbor ; at some future day I hope to lay 
before you the advantages offered by this port and 
the surrounding country. * * * * Castro has 400 
men at the Pueblo, not well armed, six pieces of ar- 
tillery', three of them flying. It is believed here that 
he will readily receive offers to capitulate. 

I think it not irrelevant to mention that I have 
found the officers and crew of this ship equal to any 
emergency. The zeal and dispatch with which they 
came up from the ship, in the instance above alluded 
to, is an evidence of it. My messenger left San 
Diego at five o'clock ; the distance is, as I have before 
stated, five miles ; by eight o'clock the party arrived, that 
portion of it on foot at the same time with that for 
which horses could be supplied ; their arms in good 
order, and the duties of the night guards and patrols 
immediately assumed with the greatest regularity. 

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully 
your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Commander. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. J 

August 3. — I have just returned from San Diego. 
The practicability of communicating by land is declared 
impossible. I have concluded, therefore, to despatch 
the launch, which I trust will meet with your appro- 
val ; she is well equipped and well commanded, and 
I entertain no apprehensions in regard to her. I have 
not, of course, overlooked the probability of your using 
the same mode to send me your instructions, yet I 
have considered a knowledge of the exact state of 
things here desirable, previous to sending them. 

Some scraps of intelligence reached us yesterday, 
such as that the news of the arrival of this ship had 
caused the followers of Castro to leave him in num- 
bers ; also, that a force of lOO foreigners were east of 
the Pueblo — supposed a party from Oregon. No in- 
telligence of the arrival of the Congress at San Pedro. 

Major Fremont returned last night from a scout- 
ing expedition, having brought in a few horses ; he 
tells me there are no others within a circuit of thirty 
miles; they now have 83, and require at least 200; 
the party consisting of 105 men, with field -piece, bag- 
gage, etc., to transport. 

We are saving our provisions all we can, but the 
bread is running low, Major Fremont's men having 
consumed a good deal during the short time they were 
on board. We have five weeks on hand now, with flour, 
if we can manage to bake it, to give us two weeks 
more. 

I have the honor to be, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont. 



8 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

United States Ship Cyane, September 17th, 1846, 

Port of Pichilingue, Gulf of California. 
To His Excellency 

Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Lower California : 

Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt 
of your Excellency's communication of the 14th inst. 
In general terms I will state at once that in estab- 
lishing a blockade, in accordance with the enclosed 
declaration from the Commander-in-Chief of the United 
States forces in the Pacific Ocean, all possible mode- 
ration and discrimination consistent with my duty will be 
exercised towards those who may have had no part 
in bringing about the present state of war, whose suf- 
ferings would in no way contribute to the injury of 
Mexico. 

The persons and property of the people of Lower 
California will be respected ; the supplies which this ship 
or any others of the United States may require, will be 
scrupulously paid for at fair prices. But all munitions 
of war, and vessels sailing under Mexican colors, or the 
property of Mexicans, must form an exception. All 
such, therefore, as are now in the harbor of La Paz, 
must be considered as prizes to the United States. 
Those which may be wanted for immediate purposes 
will be taken, but, in keeping with the spirit of mode- 
ration expressed above, the others will not be removed 
until the pleasure of Commodore R. F. Stockton, the 
Commander-in-Chief, be known. They will, however, be 
under surveillance, and everything be kept, for the 
present, as it now stands. 

I will thank your Excellency if you will please 
to direct the Captain of the port to furnish me with 
a list of such vessels as are here alluded to now in 
the port of La Paz, with their papers, names of the 
owners, etc., and I will receive also, with pleasure, any 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. g 

information which in your opinion might tend to miti- 
gate in any particular cases the application of the law 
respecting the property of belligerents, or vessels sail- 
ing under a belligerent flag. This information I will 
forward to the Commander-in-Chief, whose just and 
liberal views I am sure your Excellency will be satis- 
fied with. 

In your letter, and in our verbal communications, 
your Excellency has dwelt with emphasis upon the 
hardship of imposing the rigors of war upon a pro- 
vince wholly abandoned, for the last two years, by 
Mexico. But your Excellency may also see, in this 
circumstance, a reason for the great moderation which 
has characterized the prosecution of this war — a war 
brought on by an infatuation on the part of the Re- 
public of Mexico difficult to conceive. For the whole 
of her western coast, the towns of Acapulco, San Bias, 
Mazatlan, and both shores of the Gulf, are entirely at 
the mercy of the United States naval force in this sea. 

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your 
Excellency's obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Commander United States Ship Cyane. 



United States Ship Cyane, Sept. 23d, 1846, 

Harbor of Pichilingu^, Gulf of California. 

Commodore R. F. Stockton, Commander-in-Chief, etc., 
San Francisco : 

Sir : — By the prize steamer Julia, Lieutenant Sel- 
den, I have the honor to report my proceedings up 
to this date. 

As you are aware, I sailed from San Pedro on 
the afternoon of the 23d, made Cape San Lucas on 



lO OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

the 31st, and on the ist of September was on my 
cruising -ground. On the 2d I anchored at San Bias, 
despatched a boat on shore, established the blockade, 
and took a Mexican sloop, the Solita, just entering the 
harbor from Mazatlan, loaded with a valuable cargo for 
the interior, some of it directed to Vera Cruz and San 
Luis Potosi. On the following day I intercepted the 
brigantine Susanna, also from Mazatlan, with a similar 
cargo for the interior. An officer and prize crew were 
placed in each vessel, keeping them with me, sometimes 
at anchor and sometimes under way, the Susanna being 
in a very leaky condition, the water being up to her 
cabin deck the day she was taken. 

Having learned that San Bias was susceptible of 
easy defence, both by land and sea, and that some can- 
non, mounted and unmounted, were in the place, I di- 
rected Lieutenant Rowan to land and spike them. 
This was done. There were thirty -four, from twelves 
to thirty -two pounders. 

The two vessels that I took off San Bias were 
Mexican, but the invoices of their cargoes show that 
many of the shipments are from and to foreigners. 
You are, therefore, likely to be troubled with the 
complex question of neutral rights. No claims have 
yet reached me ; if they had, no means were in my 
power, in such a place as San Bias, or anywhere on 
the coast, to attempt an adjudication, and I decided 
to send the cargoes, so soon as I could, to be disposed 
of by yourself I felt less hesitation in adopting this 
course, for these skippers and merchants had the Presi- 
dent's declaration of war staring them in the face, and 
believing that our vessels of war would not venture on 
the coast at this tempestuous season, were induced, 
thereby, to send necessaries and luxuries of life into 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. II 

the interior of an enemy's country ; some of these 
being directed to a place blockaded by our forces in 
the Gulf of Mexico. 

Finding, on examination, the Susanna to be wholly 
unseaworthy, I took her cargo on board this ship and 
scuttled her; this encumbered me a great deal, and 
feeling somewhat anxious for the prize crew of the 
Solita, in case of heavy weather setting in, after having 
been off and on the port for eight days, I took the 
Solita in tow and stretched along the coast, intending 
to look into Mazatlan and communicate with the War- 
ren ; or, in case she had not arrived, to cut out the 
Mulek Adhel, of which vessel we received information 
at San Bias. But we found ourselves anticipated in 
this by the Warren. I had, however, the satisfaction 
to receive your dispatch of the 24th of August, when 
I bore away for this place. 

Here, or rather in La Paz, six miles above us, I 
found the Julia and seven other Mexican vessels, which 
I captured, putting a prize crew on board the former 
to guard the rest. They are generally small and 
worthless. Their capture, however, and the establish- 
ment of the blockade in this peninsula, seems to have 
been a great blow to it, as the Governor's appeal to 
you and his correspondence with me will show, all of 
which I have the honor to forward with this report. 
These vessels are generally employed in the coasting 
trade of the peninsula, and supply La Paz, San Jose, 
and San Lucas with the necessaries of life. The peo- 
ple are friendly. The Governor, who is Commander-in- 
Chief of all Lower California, has behaved with great 
civility and good faith. We have procured not only 
water, but fresh provisions, including bread ; so that 
our necessary delay here to fill the former, and dis- 



12 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

pose of the prize goods, has made no inroad into our 
other provisions. 

Lower California has wholly been neglected by 
Mexico for the last two years. Her people have 
struggled against this neglect and misrule, and are 
very poor. Why they permit the flag of so worthless 
a government to fly over their country cannot be easily 
conceived. Certain it is I believe they are ready and 
anxious to hoist ours, provided some protection is guar- 
anteed. Be this as it may, I take the liberty of re- 
commending them in their present straits to all the 
consideration and mercy which your sense of duty 
may authorize. 

The apathy in relation to the war, however, in 
the whole Mexican territory, was inconceivable, and 
the appearance and activity of the ships at such a 
season, I am induced to think, has produced a great 
effect in bringing home to the people of the western 
coast of Mexico the helpless condition in which they 
have been left by their government, should our naval 
force have been directed against them. 

The desire that your decision in relation to the 
vessels detained at La Paz should be known as soon 
as possible, the governor having become responsible 
for their safe-keeping, and the opportunity of reliev- 
ing my ships of the cargo, have determined me to 
despatch the Julia, with all the prize goods. So soon 
as I can get her fitted, I will scour the Gulf for the 
gunboats, about which the accounts are very contra- 
dictory, run down to Mazatlan and San Bias, communi- 
cate with my relief should she have arrived, and get 
the last advices from the interior, at which time my 
provisions will be pretty well expended. 

We have found, so far, a favorable season, having 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 13 

as yet escaped the gales ; these seem to have prevailed 
in the region of Acapulco, where, I am told, three 
vessels have been lost. But the unmitigated intensity 
of the heat, day and night, since we first made Cape 
San Lucas, baffles all description. Yet I am happy 
to add, my officers and crew, though much exposed 
in boats, rafting water, etc., continue generally in ex- 
cellent health. 

You will perceive, sir, I have had to meet some 
unforeseen emergencies, in relation to which I was 
necessarily without definite instructions. My best judg- 
ment has been exercised, and I trust the general results 
will be satisfactory to you. 

I have the honor to be, etc., etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 



United States Ship Cyane, 
Off the Port of Mazatlan, October 12th, 1846. 

Commodore R. F. Stockton, Commander-in-Chief of 

the United States Naval Force in the Pacific, etc. 

Sir : — Since my report of the 23d of September, 
I have the honor to inform you that I have cruised 
along the eastern coast of the Gulf of California, visited 
the port of Loreto and the Bay of Mulege, established 
the blockade, and taken three Mexican vessels. 

Having ascertained that one of the Mexican gun- 
boats had left Mulege a few days previously for 
Guaymas, I proceeded thither, anchoring in the inner 
harbor, on the evening of the 5th instant. Our arrival 
had been anticipated, and the town placed in a state 
of siege. A battalion of troops of the line with field 



14 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

artillery had come from Hermosilla, which, with the 
National Guard, made a body of five hundred men 
under arms. The two gunboats, however, had been 
entirely dismantled; one of them already laid aground 
close to the town, where the other was likewise placed. 

On the morning of the 7th, I sent an officer to 
the Mexican commander with a letter, enclosing the 
declaration of blockade, stating the course I had 
previously pursued towards the persons and property 
of the inhabitants of the coast, but making the usual 
exception to Mexican vessels; proposing, in relation to 
all merchantmen, the same arrangement which had 
been agreed to by the Governor of Lower California, 
but requesting the delivery of the gunboats. This pro- 
posal was declined ; whereupon I informed the com- 
mander I would take them by force, and unless he 
left the town, with all his troops, by ten a. m. the 
following day, I should be compelled to fire upon it. 

On the following morning the Mexican commander 
informed me that he would not evacuate the town. 
The Mexican officer who bore this reply was accom- 
panied by a deputation of neutral merchants, bringing 
a letter from the Vice- Consul of Spain, deprecating 
hostilities, and asking a delay of three days to re- 
move their goods. 

Having ascertained that all the women and children 
had left, and entertaining some doubts of the sincerity 
of these gentlemen, doubts which were not dispelled 
by the arrival on the following day of considerable 
reinforcements, I told them I could only add one hour 
to the one named, as they had lost that time in coming 
off to the ship. 

Soon after this deputation landed, and before ten 
o'clock, the enemy set fire to the gunboats ; a couple 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 5 

of shells dispersed the people who were around them, 
but they were immediately consumed. The only Mex- 
ican vessel remaining, the brig Condor, was, however, 
spared, either from the conviction that in her secure 
position no attempt to cut her out would be hazarded, 
or if such attempt were made, it must inevitably result 
in the total destruction of our boats and men. 

The brig was anchored in a cove close to the town, 
the houses within pistol shot, two streets opening upon 
her, and one of these leading from the barracks, which 
seemed situated behind a mound which rose in front 
of the town. A point of land, forming the cove, pro- 
jected out some distance into the harbor, so that the 
brig would have to be warped or towed several hundred 
yards parallel to the houses, before she could bear 
away from them. 

The ship was hauled in as close as I could 
get her ; for I was satisfied, if the enemy used half 
the men and means he had at command, the boats 
could only succeed under the cover of a very rapid 
and well-directed fire from the ships, which should 
keep the garrison, with their artillery, within their places 
of shelter, or, at least, disturb their aim very much if 
they ventured forth. 

The expedition, consisting of the launch and one 
of the cutters, under the command of Lieutenant G. W. 
Harrison, with acting Lieutenant Higgins, midshipmen 
Lewis and Crabb, acting boatswain Collins, and forty- 
five seamen, havmg dropped their kedge as they 
passed in, succeeded in boarding and cutting the chain 
of the brig without obstruction, the ship having kept 
up a very heavy cannonading on that part of the town 
which commanded the brig and cove, and where the 
troops were stationed. 



1 6 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Finding the enemy made no resistance, and having 
no desire to bombard the town, save to insure the 
safety of the boats, I ordered the firing from the 
ship to cease. On the instant, the enemy rushed 
forth with three hearty cheers, and opened a very 
spirited fire on the brig and boats, with his artillery 
and musketry. A few broadsides from the ship, with 
a sharp return from the brig and launch's gun, soon 
drove them back. As the brig was advancing, and 
the boats were drawing in a line with the ship's fire, it 
was stopped a second time, but the enemy again ral- 
lied. A company of Indians had succeeded in making 
a circuit, and in opening a cross-fire, which, with the 
artillery from the streets, and musketry from the houses, 
seemed heavier than the first one. 

At some hazard to our boats, the ship had in- 
stantly to resume her fire, and such was the rapidity 
and certainty with which the shells were lodged, to- 
gether with the consternation produced by their burst- 
ing, that all further resistance was effectually arrested. 
The brig, in the meantime, had been fired, but the 
boats had gallantly held to her, and getting her round 
the point, she was towed into a cove abreast of the 
ship, and was entirely consumed. 

I had to deny my first lieutenant, Mr. Rowan, the 
usual privilege of commanding the boats ; requiring, 
with a very reduced number, his services on board; 
his individual skill, moreover, in throwing shells was of 
the utmost importance. Lieutenant Harrison's report 
I herewith enclose ; he speaks of all engaged with 
him, but not of himself, an omission which I supply 
with great pleasure, by stating that he evinced intelli- 
gence and gallantry, and executed his orders in the 
handsomest manner. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 7 

I should have mentioned, perhaps, more explicitly, 
that so soon as our boats were out of the reach of 
the enemy's shot, I instantly stopped firing upon the 
town. I wrote to the Vice-Consul of Spain, stating 
the purposes of my visit having been accomplished, and 
the Mexican commander shown, by the cutting out of 
a Mexican vessel within pistol-shot of his barracks 
and artillery, that my previous forbearance had arisen 
from motives of humanity, and a desire to save, so 
far as my duty would permit, the property of neutrals, 
the inhabitants could return, if they thought fit, with- 
out fear of molestation from this ship. 

Enclosed are copies of my correspondence with the 
Mexican commander and Vice-Consul of Spain at 
Guaymas. 

I sailed from Guaymas on the 9th, and arrived 
at this place on the nth inst. 

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your 
obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Commander, United States Navy. 



United States Ship Cyane, October 5th, 1846, 

Harbor of Guaymas. 

To the Commanding Officer of the Mexican Forces 
in Guaymas. 

Sir : — Your letter of this date has been received, 
in which you decline giving up the gunboats, and the 
other Mexican vessel in port. I have to inform you 
that I shall take them by force ; and you are hereby 
directed to evacuate the town with all your troops by 
ten o'clock to-morrow morning, or I shall be com- 



1 8 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

pelled, unwillingly, to fire upon it, and the consequences 
involved will rest with you. You will please inform 
me of your decision. 

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your 

obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Commander United States Ship Cyane. 



United States Ship Cyane, October 7th, 1846. 

Harbor of Guaymas. 
El Senor Echeveria, 

Vice Consul of Her Majesty the Queen of Spain. 

Sir: — Your communication of this date was handed 
me this morning by the committee of neutral merchants 
of the town of Guaymas. I regretted extremely that 
I could not at the time grant your request of not firing 
upon the town, the property of which is said to belong 
almost exclusively to foreigners ; but the purposes of 
my visit having been accomplished, and the command- 
ing officer of the Mexican forces shown, by the 
cutting out of a Mexican vessel within pistol-shot of 
his barracks and artillery, that my previous forbear- 
ance arose entirely from motives of humanity, and a 
desire to save, so far as my duty would permit, the 
property of neutrals, I have now to say that I will 
fire no longer upon the town, and the inhabitants, if 
they please, can return to their homes and ordinary 
occupations, without fear of damage from this ship, 
unless hostilities be provoked by the Mexican forces; 
in which case they will be resumed. 

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully your 

obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Commander, United States Navy. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 



19 



United States Ship Cyane, 

Verba Buena, March 4th, 1847. 

Commodore . W. Branford Shubrick, Commander-in-Chief 
of the United States Naval Force in the Pacific. 

Sir : — Enclosed is an appeal to me from the 
Alcalde of Sonora for protection. Lieutenant Harrison, 
whom I had sent to Sonora for the public arms, agreeably 
to an order from Captain Hull, informs me that con- 
siderable alarm existed among the people, not for their 
horses and cattle alone, but for themselves. I have, 
in consequence, determined to dispatch at once fifteen 
marines, and sailors sufficient to manage a field-piece, 
which I will also send them. I shall send word to 
the Alcalde that the people must organize themselves 
against Indian depredations, as heretofore. 

I regret extremely to be compelled to break in 
again upon the efficiency of my ship's company, 
the more so as a system of irregular expenses will 
have to be recommenced. But, in the absence of 
General Kearny, or any other land forces, I did not 
feel at liberty to defer sending the assistance required. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your 
obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Commander, United States Navy. 



United States Ship Cyane, 

Harbor of Monterey, Sept. 26th, 1847. 
Commodore W. Branford Shubrick, Commander-in-Chief of the 
United States Naval Force in the Pacific. 

Sir : — I have the honor to announce the arrival 
of this ship, and to report my proceedings since our 
separation. 



20 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

The circumstances of my departure from off Mazat- 
lan, on the 15th of June, falling in with the Portsmouth 
at San Jose, and consequent return to Mazatlan, with 
my ultimate sailing from that port, on the 27th of June, 
you have been made acquainted with. My passage to 
to Hilo (Hawaii) was of nineteen days; the trade winds 
were not strong, and the weather lowering; on the 6th 
of July we encountered one of the highest running 
seas I ever witnessed, without sufficient wind to steady 
the ship, causing her to roll so violently as to endanger 
rigging and masts. I afterwards learned a hurricane 
had prevailed off Socorro. Not a sail was seen during 
this passage. 

I anchored in the Bay of Hilo, on the loth of 
July, and remained there two weeks ; the crew were 
greatly benefited by fresh provisions, vegetables and 
fruit, and a tour or two on shore. The weather, how- 
ever, was such as to prevent my overhauling the ship 
in her rigging, which she greatly required. I got 
under way on the 29th of July, but the egress from 
the bay is, at times, very difficult, owing to calms and 
a heavy in-shore swell, so that 1 did not get clear of 
the island until the night of the 31st, having to anchor 
twice outside of the reef No whale-ship had yet 
arrived. 

Passing along the north side of Maui, I anchored 
off Honolulu on the 2d of August, and on the 3d en- 
tered the harbor. On the 15th of August, Her Majesty's 
ship Juno (26), arrived. On the i6th the first whale- 
ship came in, followed by one almost daily during the 
remainder of my stay. They had been retarded some- 
what later than usual by the great success of the season 
— most of the ships having filled up. Agreeably to 
your order, I enclose a list of those met with. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 21 

Through the consul at Honolulu, consular agent 
at Lahaina, and through personal intercourse with the 
masters themselves of the whale-ships, I informed these 
of the main object of my visit to the Islands, and of 
your orders to me, to see to their security and protec- 
tion in every way in my power. This was highly 
appreciated, and the consul expressed throughout my 
visit extreme satisfaction at what he conceived, for many 
reasons, the most opportune visit of the Cyane, regret- 
ting only that she or another vessel of the squadron 
could not be spared during the whole refitting season 
of the whaling fleet. At such times the ports of the 
Islands are crowded with several hundred ships, their 
crews numbering many thousand men; these require 
but too often his interference and control, rendering 
his duties most difficult and arduous. The moral 
effect created by the simple presence of one of our 
ships of war would, in the opinion of the consul, relieve 
him of most of this, preserve order in the harbors, 
prevent incarceration in the forts and prisons on shore, 
and be greatly appreciated by the masters and owners 
of the enormous amount of property floating in these 
ships. 

Besides the arrivals mentioned above, not to speak 
of those from Oregon and California, there were two 
from China, one from Valparaiso, and one from the 
Society Islands. No news or rumors of privateers was 
brought by any of these vessels, and I am induced 
to believe this ocean is, as yet, entirely free from them. 

Official visits were interchanged with the Governor 
of Oahu, and the King's ministers, followed by the 
most friendly and agreeable intercourse during the 
whole of my stay. . I believe the latter gentlemen are 
truly devoted to the best interests and welfare of the 



22 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Hawaiian nation. In their most delicate and difficult 
task, that of legislating and governing to the satisfac- 
tion of foreigners, they are, in my humble judgment, 
anxiously desirous to be just and rigidly impartial 
towards the subjects of all nations. Our consul, Mr. 
Turrill, a gentleman of calm sagacity, while vigilant in 
watching over the interests committed to his charge, 
had no complaint whatever to make of the authorities, 
and enjoys, deservedly, their highest confidence. This 
good understanding, I believe, was not a little instru- 
mental in removing recently from off the whale-ships 
all port charges, pilotage, etc. ; a saving of many thou- 
sand dollars to this important American interest. 

I shipped, at Honolulu, several men who were on 
the consul's hands at Government expense; they are 
healthy and able-bodied. 

The stores and provisions which you directed the 
storekeeper to procure, I have brought over with me, 
with the exception of the flour — this article not having 
come down to the price limited in your order. While 
in port the ship was overhauled, and made as efficient 
as the wear and tear of two full years of very active 
service would allow. Though mindful of your injunc- 
tion to be as economical as possible in my expendi- 
tures, I find that our disbursements were considerable 
for the supplies of this ship, and the stores and pro- 
visions procured for the squadron. There was nothing 
in the Government storehouse; everything had to be 
purchased, and nothing is cheap at the Islands. There 
were, also, arrears long due the crew for stopped spirit, 
and other rations, which I felt incumbent upon me to 
pay, and they were also allowed some money to visit 
the shore ; it was likewise the first opportunity offered 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 23 

for a long time for the officers to refit themselves, and 
they drew all the money due them. 

Though not specially directed in my instructions, I 
had proposed calling at Lahaina, in the Island of 
Maui, it being the great resort of our whalers, but the 
change in the port regulations brought most of them 
to Honolulu. News was brought, however, by the 
last arrival, that seven had anchored there, but the 
same day the Mount Vernon had come from San 
Francisco, bringing your declaration of blockade, and 
thinking the ship might be wanted for other service, 
sooner than was contemplated when I left the coast, I 
sailed instantly, and shaped my course directly for this 
port, which I reached this day, after a pleasant pas- 
sage of twenty days. 

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, 
your obedient servant, 

S. F. DuPoNT, 

Commander, United States Navy. 



United States Ship Cyane, 

Off San Jose, Lower California, Feb. i6th, 1848. 

Commodore W. Branford Shubrick, Commander-in-Chief of the 
United States Naval Force in the Pacific. 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform you that in 
obedience to your order of the 31st inst., received at 
La Paz, per Southampton, I sailed with all despatch 
to the relief of Lieutenant Heywood, it being, moreover, 
evident from our last news from San Antonio, that he 
had the whole enemy's force upon him at San Jose, 
rendering it certain that the provisions I had sent him, 
a few days before, could not have been landed. 



24 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Fortunate in getting out of the devious channel 
of La Paz, without the usual delays from grounding, I 
arrived here on Monday, the 14th inst., at sundown. 

During our approach, the report of artillery oc- 
casionally reached us from the cuartel, over which, after 
a long and anxious gaze, we could make out that our 
flag was still waving. 

This, however, was the only cheering sight ; not a 
human being could our glasses detect on top or around 
the cuartel ; a Mexican flag was conspicuously flying 
about the centre of the town, and immediately facing 
our own. No messenger was seen approaching the bay 
side ; it was evident the post was closely besieged. 

The boats were immediately hoisted out, and prepa- 
rations made for landing all the force we could venture 
to take out of the ship at such anchorage as this. In 
meantime night set in, and the firing from the cuartel 
had ceased. Believing that nearly the whole force of 
the enemy would be distributed along the road from 
the beach to the town, about a mile and three-quarters 
in distance, offering every facility for a most destructive 
ambuscade by night or day ; and reflecting on the dif- 
ficulty of controlling the impetuosity of seamen in the 
excitement of a night attack on shore, I determined 
to wait until daylight before landing, unless the cuartel 
should be attacked, in which case we would land at 
all hazards. This was the order for the night, to us 
a long and anxious one. It was one of still greater 
anxiety to Lieutenant Heywood, lest we should land 
and attempt the march before day. 

He had seen a part of the preparations of the 
enemy, admitted by himself (the enemy) to be 300 
strong, though rated at double that number by others, 
including a company of Yaca Indians (70) from Sonora, 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 2$ 

and a company of infantry, Pineda's veterans, except 
the latter all finely mounted, and armed with lances, 
carbines, and rifles. He also was very apprehensive, 
even if we should reach San Jose, about our passing 
through that portion of the town occupied by the 
enemy, the houses being looped, barricaded, etc., and, 
therefore, with great forethought and consideration, 
though pressed hard by the enemy as he had been 
for the eight .previous days and nights, refrained from 
using his artillery, though he could have done so with 
advantage, that we might remain in ignorance of the 
contest going on, the report of musketry not reaching 
us. By daylight we were on the beach, and that with 
the ammunition dry, the surf being unusually low. 
Our force consisted of 89 seamen, 5 marines, and 8 
officers ; total, 102. The officers who landed with me 
were Lieutenants S. C. Rowan and George W. Harri- 
son, Acting Master D. McN. Fairfax, Surgeon C. D. 
Maxwell, and Midshipmen E. Vanderhonst, E. Shepherd, 
and R. F. Lewis. 

It fell to Lieutenant George L. Selden's lot to be 
shipkeeper ; the loss of his services on shore I greatly 
regretted ; and he being the only Lieutenant on board, 
I had also to refuse the request of Mr. Price, purser, 
to accompany us. knowing that he would be of great 
service to Mr. Selden, should any serious disaster be- 
fall us ; acting Lieutenant MacRae, with nine men, I 
had left at La Paz to fit out a small craft to inter- 
cept the communication between Sonora and the pe- 
ninsula. He had, as you are aware, some days before, 
at great personal hazard, succeeded in communicating 
with Lieutenant Heywood, and the information then 
obtained and reported to you by him, led to your 
timely orders to this ship. 



26 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

We marched in two companies, double file, the 
small field-piece (3 pounder) dragged by hand, guarded 
by the small fi-action left us of our marine guard. 
Soon after leaving the beach, the firing commenced 
on our right from bushes, etc., and horsemen began 
to appear in the few open spaces about us. Looking 
back to the ship, I found one of the pre-arranged 
signals already flying, that the enemy was in full force 
in our front. From this time a sharp fire was kept up 
on our flank and rear, from the different covers along 
the whole line of road. Our general procedure was, 
when the glimpse of an enemy was caught by any 
one in the file, he should step out a pace, fire, and 
fall in again. When the fire upon us seemed concen- 
trated, and was specially annoying, the two companies 
would face alternately to the right or left, and pour 
in a volley. On approaching the mound on which 
stands the hamlet of San Vicente, we found it occupied 
by the enemy in considerable force, and who presented 
a somewhat formidable array ; but moving steadily on, 
though still annoyed as before on our right, and rising 
the hill, a discharge from the field-piece, followed by 
a few well directed volleys, drove him before us, and 
into the bushes again. After passing through the 
hamlet of some twelve buildings, and descending from 
it to cross the arroyo, half knee-deep, the enemy closed 
on our rear again, and occupied the mound and huts, 
and his fire was rather hot; but halting and sending 
back a volley or two, we got rid of him then again. On 
passing a field of well-grown sugar-cane, we got it 
again, and even still warmer, a little farther on, from 
a long row of bananas and plantains. The fire of the 
enemy was well sustained throughout, but, with some 
exceptions, he always overshot, his balls passing just 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 2/ 

over the heads of our little column. In was an ani- 
mating scene, and presented some points of peculiar 
interest ; from the ship, particularly from aloft, our 
progress could be distinctly followed throughout, to- 
gether with the whole operations of the enemy, so 
much concealed from us. I had directed Lieutenant 
Selden, so long as the enemy continued within reach 
of the 32-pounders and 8-inch shell guns, to give us 
all the assistance he could, if we should need it; 
though eagerly on the watch to do so, friend and foe 
seemed to him too much in contact to hazard such 
support. 

You can imagine, sir, the intense sympathy with 
which our advance was watched by our friends on 
board, burning to be with us. They drew a long 
breath for us on our ascending the mound of San 
Vicente, where the enemy seemed to them most ad- 
vantageously posted. After passing San Vicente, our 
shipmates thought we were through the worst, though 
persuaded many of us must have fallen. 

To Lieutenant Heywood, however, and his gallant 
band, who, from the cuartel, commanded a still better 
view, and who had been watching us with deep and 
fraternal solicitude, it seemed that we were more and 
more pressed as we approached. Our volleys, the ef- 
fect of which he could see, while we could not, alone 
gave him some confidence ; and though the enemy still 
had a detachment in the lower part of the town, anx- 
ious too about leaving his sick and wounded exposed 
even for a moment, placing himself at the head of his 
garrison, brushed out the looped houses from which he 
had been so annoyed, killing one man, and sallied out 
of the town to our support ; fortunately we needed it 
not, and just as he emerged from the last cover of 



28 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

the enemy, who had redoubled his efforts, but in vain 
(our volleys always driving him back), the parties met 
only to exchange a cordial greeting. 

Our friends could scarcely credit that we had not 
left many of our number on the road ; four only were 
struck, and of these two only were disabled. The two 
parties united now marched into San Jose; a small 
body of the enemy, which had clung to it with much 
tenacity, retreated to the hillsides southward. There 
was no cavalry in that direction, and but little danger 
to stragglers, and Midshipman Vanderhorst was allowed 
with a small party to follow him. The enemy showed 
a good deal of spirit, and more cunning than his pur- 
suers in availing himself of the nature of the ground 
for cover, etc., but after this little skirmish he was 
driven over the crest of the hill. The parties were 
then called in, bringing with them two prisoners (one 
wounded), two or three mules, a lance or two, guidon, 
etc., articles calculated to please sailors. 

A few scattered detachments of the enemy, how- 
ever, still lingered in the valley, but their stay was 
short. The ship now performed her part ; and Lieuten- 
ant Selden, no longer afraid of hurting his friends, as- 
sisted by Mr. Price and Midshipman Allmand, opened 
upon different squads with shot and shell. One of 
the latter, passing over San Vicente with a wonder- 
ful range, burst over the heads of a large party. 
The valley was cleared, the enemy dispersed, and the 
communication between the town and ship re-estab- 
lished. The enemy fell back to his camp at Los 
Animas, but broke up in the night and retreated to 
San Jose Viejo, two leagues up the valley. 

The officers and men more than sustained the 
reputation they have earned during their long service 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 



29 



in this ship, now over two and a half years. It was 
difficult at first to prevent the men rushing into the 
covers after their foe, where doubtless, doing havoc at 
first, they would soon have separated, and been ridden 
over and speared to a man. I am greatly indebted 
to Lieutenant Rowan, my able adviser and invaluable 
executive officer, and to Lieutenant Harrison, for their 
earnest and judicious exertions to prevent this, upon 
which our success depended. Our field-piece, though 
so small, was too weakly manned; but owing to the 
great exertions of Acting-Master Fairfax, aiding to drag 
it himself through the sands, and across the arroyo, 
was always in time to do good service. 

The midshipmen, Messrs. Vanderhorst, Shepherd, 
and Lewis, vied with their seniors in coolness and 
zeal ; the first, my aid, more under my own eye, 
greatly pleased me by his cool and quick observation. 
To Doctor Maxwell, ever zealous, and ahead recon- 
noitring, I was indebted for several timely suggestions 
about the nature of the ground, etc. Quickly, after 
our arrival, extracting a ball from one of our wounded 
men, Isaac Watson (O. S.), and dressing the other, 
W. Eaton (O. S.), he was off among the skirmishers 
on the hillside, and soon among the advance party. 
Before closing this report, already too long, I cannot 
deny myself the satisfaction of adding my humble tri- 
bute of commendation to the conduct of the garrison, 
and its commander, Lieutenant Heywood. Invested for 
twenty-one days, and closely besieged for nine, his 
provisions at the lowest ebb, fever and dysentery pre- 
vailing within, his wounded lying in its midst, two 
valuable officers, Passed-Midshipman Duncan and War- 
ley, cut off and prisoners, women and children crowd- 
ing his cuartels and consuming his supplies, two of 



30 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

his California allies deserting to the enemy, and greatly 
dispiriting those who remained, the enemy himself oc- 
cupying the church, and other buildings as strong as 
his own, six times his number, and fighting him eight 
successive days and nights, he was indomitable. Nor 
was this all : two excellent breastworks, thrown up in 
the night, brought a cross-fire on his water, and was 
near cutting it off effectually. A well was instantly 
commenced, and progress made against great obstruc- 
tions. Then came another blow, the sorest of all, — his 
gallant, unflinching, devoted second in command, Passed- 
Midshipman Tenant McLanahan, of this ship, was killed 
by a rifle-shot in the neck (surviving only two hours 
after the wound), in the main cuartel (Mission House), 
on the nth of February. This left him Passed-Mid- 
shipman G. A. Stevens (Independence), for his only 
officer, who zealously exerted himself to meet such 
emergency; for even his brave and valuable volunteer 
aid, Mr. Eugene Gillespie, was among the fever pa- 
tients. Knowing your anxious desire that our flag 
should wave wherever once hoisted, and also your deep 
solicitude about the post of San Jose, it gives me 
pleasure to be able to assure you of the security of 
both. What means should be adopted to put down, 
effectually, this movement in Lower California, so de- 
structive to the property of its best people (our friends), 
I will endeavor to suggest in another report. 

The loss of the enemy, of course, is all conjec- 
ture; the numbers reported by the friendly Califor- 
nians, range from 13 to 35 killed. 

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your 
obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Commander, United States Navy. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 3 1 

P. S. — February 22, 1848. — We are provisioning 
the garrison, but the progress is slow, and labor heavy. 
We have no animals (three mules excepted). I think 
it prudent yet to send escorts of fifty men with the 
trains, two per day. The surf is high, and sometimes 
dangerous ; our boats are knocked to pieces, but the 
work goes cheerily on. Lieutenant Heywood's report 
is herewith forwarded. 

S. F. D. P. 



United States Ship Cyane, 
Off San Jose, Lower California, March 25th, 1848. 

Commodore W. Branford Shubrick, Commander-in-Chief 

of the United States Naval Force in 

the Pacific. 

Sir : — I returned, last evening, from an expedition 
to Sant Anita, having taken seventy men from this 
ship, with thirty from the cuartel under Lieutenant 
Heywood, a body of the enemy having been repre- 
sented as encamped there, about 130 strong, including 
the Indians, and the distance from us, about eleven 
miles, likely to make him careless, I thought he might 
be surprised, at all events, broken up. 

Every precaution was taken to prevent information 
reaching him, and the march was noiselessly performed 
between eleven at night and half past two in the 
morning, avoiding those portions of the route whence 
information might be given of our approach. By day- 
light we closed around the place ; but the enemy, 
warned by an Indian spy, who had been in San Jose, 
escaped us. Otherwise, everything had been so fortu- 
nately conducted, and he having been, as I had sus- 
pected, even without sentries, we should have captured 
the whole party. 



32 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

The Yacas, on getting the information in the even- 
ing, left instantly. Navarette left later in the night. 
Their camp fires were still burning. A forge where 
their arms were repaired was destroyed, and the ar- 
morer made prisoner. After a few hours' rest we re- 
turned, taking San Bernabe, San Jose Viejo, and Ro- 
sario in our way, thus scouring the whole valley. 
Though not attended with any capture or loss to the 
enemy, he has thus been driven from this valley for 
many miles, his depredations stopped, and the moral 
effect, altogether, important. 

From our best information, he has fallen back to 
Santiago, sixteen leagues, much broken and ^educed in 
numbers. Navarette is said now to be commander-in- 
chief, Pineda having been badly wounded in a quarrel 
with one of his officers, Manuel Castro, who cut one of 
his hands nearly off. 

We had expected some warm work, the country 
through which we passed offering the enemy such ad- 
vantages, but he seems, for some reason, not to have 
availed himself this time of them. 

The officers, who were along, were Lieutenant Hey- 
wood, Rowan, Selden, and Acting- Lieutenant McRae, 
Dr. Maxwell, Passed-Midshipman Warley, and Midship- 
men Vanderhorst and Allmand. A videt advance of 
guides and Californians was under Mr. Gillespie, with 
Captain Ripley, volunteer. It was as fine a detachment 
of this kind as I have ever seen. 

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your 
obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Commander, United States Navy, 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 33 

United States Ship Cyane, 
Off San Jose, California, March 30th, 1848. 

Lieutenant Geo. L. Selden, 

United States Ship Cyane : 

Sir : — You will take the command of a party of 
mounted men, to be selected from this ship and the 
Cuartel, for the purpose of scouring the valley of San 
Jose as far up as Santiago, about fifteen leagues dis- 
tant. 

The general object of this expedition will be to 
examine the haciendas and ranches, to collect arms, 
which portions of the enemy, who have been disbanded 
or deserted, may have taken to their homes. The late 
Alcalde of Santiago, with other allies from that district, 
are desirous of going to their homes. You will take 
all such with you. You will ascertain if the people 
there are friendly, as represented by their allies. You 
will, from that point, be able to get correct informa- 
tion, in all probability, of the number, position, and 
condition of the enemy ; whether he has actually dis- 
persed, as represented, or only removed his headquar- 
ters farther into the interior. There seems little doubt 
that he has fallen back to Todos Santos ; but whether 
to remain there, or is merely passing through to Mu- 
lege, by the coast road, is not yet determined. 

Be this as it may, you will relax no measure of 
vigilance on your march — camping properly, placing 
sentries, guarding the cavallada, using every care against 
surprise. On reaching every hacienda or rancho, 
where you may stop, immediate search must be made 
for mescal, and precaution taken that it be not sold 
to your men. Be vigilant and vigorous about strag- 
glers. Examine well the rancho Viego, where some 

3 



34 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Mexican ofificers are said to have slept since their 
troops broke up and left this valley, after our expedi- 
tion to Sant Anita. 

The rancho of the Palma montafios examine care- 
fully ; these people are relatives of Angelo, one of the 
enemy's chiefs. It is said that the horses and cattle 
of this rancho have been spared by the enemy, while 
those of our allies and friends have been much plun- 
dered. You will take horses from the rancho of the 
Palma in preference, giving receipts, however. Do not 
slaughter more cattle than necessary for your consump- 
tion ; and you will conform to the practice which has 
always prevailed in our naval expeditions on these 
coasts, to treat the people kindly, paying for what you 
get. Where you have to incommode, or use arbitrary 
measures, discriminate all you can in favor of those 
who have been friendly to our cause. 

If you meet the Padre Gabriel, treat him respect- 
fully, and bring him in. It is probable that Lieutenant- 
Colonel Burton is in the field, and you may meet 
or hear from him ; if a delay of a fezv days would 
assist him in any combined movement, and he should 
desire your co-operation, and your own judgment ap- 
prove, you can remain ; otherwise, I shall expect you 
back in three days. My present information will not 
justify my sending you further than Santiago. I rely 
upon your judgment and discretion not to expose your 
.command to any hazards that would not be justified 
by some commensurate result. Horses and saddles are, 
or will be, collected by to-morrow, sufficient to mount 
forty of our people, with ten or twelve of the best 
California volunteers, valuable aids to a mounted party. 

The officers who go with you are Acting-Lieu- 
tenant MacRae, Doctor Maxwell, Acting-Master Fairfax, 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 



35 



Passed-Midshipmen Stevens and Warley, Midshipman 
Vanderhorst, and Mr. Ripley, volunteer. 

Require them to be vigilant ; careful of the men ; 
remind them that no reports of the broken condition 
of the enemy will justify any neglect of discipline or 
watchfulness, or you may all pay dearly for it. Keep 
the men from straggling. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Commander, United States Navy. 



United States Ship Cyane, 
Off San Jose, Lower California, April 6th, 1848. 

Commodore W. Branford Shubrick, Commander-in-Chief 
of the United States Naval Force in the 
Pacific, Mazatlan : 

Sir : — Lieutenant Selden returned yesterday from 
an expedition to the rich and populous district of San- 
tiago, some fifteen or sixteen leagues up the valley of 
San Jose, where he had been with a party of mounted 
men. 

The effect of the expedition was most salutary and 
cheering to the people, who have proved themselves 
all that we had heard — very friendly to our cause ; 
the Alcalde of Miraflores returning with the party. 
Twenty-three prisoners were taken, some with their 
arms, others without; among them, the most important 
of the leaders, whose capture will have a material 
effect in preventing future outbreaks, Don Mauricio 
Castro, Gefe Politico, and commander-in-chief since the 
resignation of the latter office by Pifieda. He is now 
on board this ship. The other prisoners, with those 



36 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

previously taken, numbering over thirty in all, are at 
the Cuartel, 

The enemy, having been driven from this valley 
by our expedition of the 23d and 24th ult., fell back 
upon Todos Santos, some twenty leagues beyond San- 
tiago, where. Colonel Burton coming upon him, he was 
again totally dispersed, the particulars of which we have 
not, but learn a few shots were exchanged. 

It was after this that Castro, in retreating to the 
coast, was picked up by our party. The enemy is 
entirely broken up, a result which it gives me pleas- 
ure to inform you of 

I am in hopes Colonel Burton will pass this 
way, that arrangements may be made for his receiv- 
ing from us the post of San Jose, that the officers, 
marines, and sailors, who so long defended it against 
all odds, may once more rejoin their ships, agreeably 
to your wish. 

Some judicious action will be required to prevent 
great future evil to that portion (large) of the people 
of this territory, who have been friendly to us, and 
who have suffered much in consequence. When the 
forces return to their garrisons, the enemy, in small 
guerilla parties, will again fall upon and plunder the 
rancheros, who are without a single arm. If some 
arms could be given them they would willingly un- 
dertake to keep down these parties. But the best 
course would be to mount a small force, for which 
we could enlist any number of most efficient Califor- 
nia volunteers, who, by moving through the country, 
would keep all quiet. 

Should Lower California not be included in the 
treaty of peace, I fear lamentable consequences will en- 
sue, out of this war, to its best people, for their 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 3/ 

friendly disposition to us. Wholly indifferent to Mexico 
proper, and its central government, as the latter has 
been to them, they have every reason to wish to be- 
come a portion of the United States ; and it will be 
a sad disappointment to them if they do not. Be this 
as it may, it is to be hoped that those persons who 
have suffered so much in property, because they stood 
by the American cause, will be liberally dealt with by 
the Government. 

P. S. — April 7th. — Lieutenant Halleck arrived, last 
evening, with a party of thirty mounted men, by the 
lower route from Todos Santos. At the encounter 
with the enemy, near the last mentioned place, the 
Yaques made a short stand, long enough to have nine 
or ten of their number killed. Colonel Burton has re- 
turned to La Paz. The Southampton will bring down 
Captain Naglee's company. Allowing for the usual de- 
lays, I hope to join you with the Southampton by 
the 1st of May; Colonel Burton requiring only a small 
despatch vessel, which I will fit out for him (the 
Rosita), and have directed her to be sent down at 
once from La Paz. I will give her in charge to Passed- 
Midshipman Warley, or Stevens. 8th. — Lieutenant Hal- 
leck left for La Paz this morning ; I have sent a 
party, mostly Californians, to escort him as far as San- 
tiago, under Lieutenant MacRae and Doctor Maxwell 
and Midshipman AUmand, to pick up more stragglers. 
April 9th. — I perceive some vessel passing on her way 
to Mazatlan, and will attempt to cut her off and send 
this communication by her. 

I have the honor to be, Sir, with great respect, 
your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

(^)nimander, United States Navy. 



38 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES 

Near Wilmington, Del., November 2d, 1848. 

Hon. S. Y. Mason, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington: 

Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of your communication of the 30th of October, 
enclosing the report of Commodore Sloat, on the con- 
dition of the Cyane, on her arrival at Norfolk, under 
my command. 

To an officer who.se goal of ambition is to do his 
duty, to stand well with his profession, and justify the 
confidence of the Executive who may employ him, it 
must be a source of high gratification to find his con- 
duct approved. 

The approbation of the Department is gratefully 
acknowledged, and will be highly appreciated by the 
officers and crew late of the Cyane, 

I have the honor to be, sir, with great respect, 
your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont. 



OFFICIAL DISPATCHES 

— OF — 

ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 



WAR OF THE REBELLION. 



Washington, Sept. i8, 1861. 

To Honorable Gideon Welles, 

Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt 
of the Department's order of this date, appointing me 
to command the Southern Atlantic Blockading Squad- 
ron. This mark of confidence, with its grave respon- 
sibilities, was not looked for by me, but with God's 
support and direction, I trust I shall not disappoint 
the Department. 

The order of to-day was doubtless intended to 
give vigor to the execution of the Department's pre- 
vious instructions to me ; and I avail myself of this 
occasion to offer a suggestion in reference to the ex- 
peditions ordered by the Department, which may aid 
in giving them such efficiency as circumstances will 
permit. 

On the Southern Atlantic coast, the Department 
is aware that these expeditions cannot have the cover- 
ing support of our great steam frigates, as at Hat- 
teras ; and while the ships purchased and converted 

39 



40 ■ OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

into ships-of-war by the remarkable energy of the De- 
partment are of the utmost value, not only for block- 
ading, but attacking, it would be very desirable that 
these should not be the first to come under fire of 
the forts ; not so much because their guns are lighter, 
but owing to their very light scantling, — a point 
which the practical knowledge of the Assistant Secre- 
tary will fully appreciate. 

If the Department, therefore, can spare me for a 
short time the Pawnee, Iroquois, Seminole, and Mo- 
hican, carrying as they do eleven-inch guns, with the 
three or four gunboats which I earnestly trust will 
be finished in time, we shall have a force calculated 
to stand the brunt of the first attack from the forts. 

So soon as the expeditions are through, these valu- 
able vessels can be apportioned to the different squad- 
rons, as the Department may deem best; remarking 
only, that the general composition of the Southern 
Atlantic Squadron should be of vessels of light draft. 

On the receipt of my first orders, the Department 
kindly promised that a special battalion of three hun- 
dred marines should be attached to my command ; and 
the Colonel Commandant of the corps received orders 
accordingly. Will the Department please renew its 
order, in view of the very short time left us now to 
be ready. 

With great respect, I am, sir, faithfully, your obe- 
dient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Captain Commanding Southern Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 4 1 

BLOCKADING INSTRUCTIONS. 

General Order No. i. 

Commanding officers of blockading vessels under 
my command are to be governed by the following 
rules : 

1st. — Duly notify neutrals of the declaration of 
blockade, and give to it all the publicity in your 
power. 

2d. — The blockade must be strict and absolute; 
and only public armed vessels of foreign powers are 
to be permitted to enter the ports which are placed in 
a state of blockade. 

3d. — Protect our commerce from the depredations 
of privateers ; and as a matter of course, capture 
them and all other vessels of the enemy, whenever 
you can do so without being seduced away from your 
station. 

4th. — A lawful maritime blockade requires the 
presence of an adequate force stationed at the entrance 
of the port, sufficiently near to prevent communication. 
The only exception to this rule arises out of the oc- 
casional temporary absence of the blockading vessels, 
produced by accident, as in the case of a storm, which 
does not suspend the legal operation of a blockade ; 
and to take advantage of such an accidental absence 
is a fraudulent attempt to break the blockade, and will 
justify the application of penalties. 

5th. — A neutral or foreign vessel, proceeding to- 
ward the entrance of a blockaded port, is not to be 
captured or detained, if she shall not have previously 
received, from one of the blockading squadron, a spe- 



42 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

cial notification of the existence of the blockade. This 
notification must be inserted, in writing, on the regis- 
ter and muster-roll of the neutral vessel, by the cruiser 
which meets her ; and it should contain the announce- 
ment, together with statements of the day and the 
latitude and longitude in which it was made. 

6th. — Until the ports are closed by proclamation 
(that is, declared to be no longer ports of entry), the 
warning just mentioned is to be continued to all ves- 
sels, instead of capturing at once, as will be the case 
when they come to be so closed. 

7th. — Vessels leaving guarded insurgent ports with- 
out legal clearances, are to be seized and sent in for 
adjudication. If it be claimed that there is not an ef- 
fective blockade, and therefore that they are entitled 
to depart, still they must not disregard our municipal 
laws, and the requirements of the National Govern- 
ment. If they do they incur the penalties, and are 
subject to the forfeitures, which the laws impose. 

8th. — Vessels with contraband goods on board, 
approaching any of the blockaded ports, or vessels 
that may have cleared for any of those ports, or be 
found, with a due warning on their papers, hovering 
about any of them, are all to be seized and sent in 
for adjudication. 

Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

October 24th, 1861. Flag Officer, etc. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 43 

Steam Frigate Wabash, New York, Oct. i6th, 1861. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, 

Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform the Department 
"what I have already done briefly by telegraph, that I 
despatched last night, in a very short time after receiv- 
ing your message, the steamer James Adger, Com- 
mander Marchand, and the steamer Curlew, Acting- 
Lieutenant Commanding Watmough, in pursuit of the 
steamer Nashville, said to have run the blockade of 
Charleston with Messrs. Mason and Slidell on board. 

The Adger will run across to the Channel ; and 
if, as I think, the Nashville will run a long time be- 
fore venturing to make her northing, the difference of 
time may be overcome. 

The Curlew has attempted an intersection at a 
point indicated by the shortness of her fuel, for she 
carries but eight days' supply, and I have ordered her 
back to Hampton Roads ; also the Adger. 

Both vessels have orders to look out for the 
steamers expected from Europe to the rebel States ; 
and this induced me in part to send the Curlew, for 
her chance is small, I fear, of crossing the Nashville. 

The Department will readily believe I feel strong 
regrets at losing two good ships, so well commanded as 
these, from my squadron ; but whether successful in 
the chase or not, I deemed it important to show, if 
the blockade could be run, that prompt measures could 
be directed in reference thereto, which I was sure the 
Department greatly desired. 

I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



44 



OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Hampton Roads, Oct. 26th, 1861. 

To Commander Francis S. Haggerty, United States Navy, 
United States Ship Vandalia, Hampton Roads : 

Sir : — The duty is hereby assigned to you of con- 
voying to the place of rendezvous the coal and pow- 
der ships belonging to the squadron, and to the trans- 
ports composing this expedition. The armed barque 
The Gem of the Sea, of the volunteer navy, will as- 
sist in this duty ; and Captain Baxter is ordered to 
report to you, accordingly, and wait your specific in- 
structions. 

The following is a list of the vessels placed under 
your convoy : 



Brig Belle of the Bay, 
Barque Jane A. Bishop, 
Schooner Western Star, 
Brig E. P. Stuart, 
Ship Courier, 

COAL SHIPS FOR 

Aid, schooner, 
Charles McNeal, 
N. E. Clark, 
Susan T. Abbott, 
E. F. Allen, 
J. M. Vance, 
W. G. Audenried, 
Sarah J. Bright, 
Elizabeth English, 
Effort, 



belonging to the 
squadron. 



TRANSPORT. 

Saratoga, 

Rachel S. Miller, 

Lewis Chester, 

Sarah Cullen, 

J. Frambes, 

J. S. Hewitt, 

Snowflake, 

James Satterthwaite, 

Willard Saulsbury, 

D. Molany. 



You will proceed to sea with the first fair wind, 
and make the best of your way to the port designated 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 45 

in the enclosed confidential communication, which you 
will not open until after passing Cape Henry. 

It affords me pleasure to say that, in consequence 
of our necessarily slow movements, you will, provided 
you use despatch, arrive in time to take part in the 
operations of the fleet. 

You will please instruct the freight vessels in 
your convoy to make for Savannah, Georgia, if sepa- 
rated from your pendant. 

Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Hampton Roads, Oct., 29th, 1861. 

To A. D. Bache, LL. D., 

Superintendent of United States Coast Survey, 
Washington : 

Sir : — It affords me pleasure to inform you that 
Mr. Boutelle reached this place yesterday morning, in 
good time. 

Mr. Boutelle handed me his instructions, and I 
have to thank you for the regard paid in them to 
my own wishes, and to the duties of that branch of 
the public service placed under my charge. 

I feel assured that Mr. Boutelle will fulfill your 
expectations and my own, in the usefulness of the 
Vixen and Arago ; and I need not add that I shall 
give him every opportunity and aid necessary to en- 
able him to carry on the proper work of the Coast 
Survey. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



46 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

CIRCULAR. 

United States Ship Wabash, October 23d, 1861. 

Sir: — The following-named vessels of this fleet, 
under my command, will, on signals being made, get 
under way, and leave Hampton Roads in third order 
of steaming, or the double line ahead, viz. : 












Wabash, 


Ottawa, 










Unadilla, 


Pawnee, 










Seneca, 


Isaac M. 


Smith, 








Pembina, 


Curlew, 










R. B. Forbes, 


Penguin, 










Pocahontas. 



These vessels, when outside, will form the line 
abreast, according to the diagram, except the two last, 
which are the flanking vessels of the column of trans- 
ports on the east, as shown in the diagram. They will 
therefore take their positions, as prescribed in the dia- 
gram, in rear of the left of the line, and await the 
transports. 

After the above - named vessels will follow the 
transports in succession ; thus : first the Vanderbilt, and 
those composing the third column of transports, of 
which the Vanderbilt is the leading ship ; then the 
Baltic, and those composing the first or centre column 
of transports, of which the Baltic is the leading ship ; 
and lastly the Atlantic, and those composing the second 
or right column of transports, of which the Atlantic 
is the leading ship. 

The transports will form, when in the offing, in 
three columns in the line ahead, under their respective 
leaders, as shown in the diagram. 

After the transports will follow the P^lorida and. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 47 

Augusta, which are to flank the transports on the 
west ; and, lastly, the Mohican and Seminole, which 
are to cover the rear of the fleet ; as shown in the 
diagram. 

The following general directions are to be observed : 

1st. — Each vessel is to keep her own place in 
line, abreast or ahead, as the case may be, and not 
leave except by signal. 

2d. — The transports will follow strictly, with or 
without signals, the leading vessel of their respective 
columns. 

3d. — The flag ship will communicate with the 
transports, through the leaders of the columns only, 
and by means of Rogers' marine signals. 
Very respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Roads, Nov. 5th, 1861. 

To C. O. BOUTELLE, 

Assistant United States Coast Survey : 

Sir : — I have to thank you for your efficient as- 
sistance and co-operation in bringing the heavy ships 
of the squadron under my command, and the trans- 
ports, into Port Royal roadstead ; and I shall take 
pains to inform the Superintendent of the Coast Sur- 
vey that your services have met my cordial commen- 
dation. 

I have now to request that you will be pleased 
to make a hydrographic reconnoissance of the channel 
between the North Breaker and Fishing Kip ; placing 
such buoys on the latter as will make it safe to pass 



48 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

the southeast or northwest point of the shoal, or to 
cross it with the gunboats at low water. 

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off Hilton Head, Port Royal Harbor, Nov. 6th, 1861. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — The Government having determined to seize 
and occupy one or more important points upon 
our southern coast, where our squadron might find 
shelter, possess a depot, and afford protection to loyal 
citizens, committed to my direction the selection from 
among the places which it thought most available and 
desirable for these purposes. 

After mature deliberation, aided by the professional 
knowledge and great intelligence of the Assistant Sec- 
retary, Mr. Fox, and upon taking into consideration the 
magnitude to which the joint naval and military ex- 
pedition had been extended, to which you have called 
my attention, I came to the conclusion that the orig- 
inal intention of the Department, if first carried out, 
would fall short of the expectations of the country, 
and of the capabilities of the expedition, while Port 
Royal, I thought, would meet both in a high degree. 

I therefore submitted to Brigadier-General Sher- 
man, commanding the military part of the expedition, 
this modification of our earliest-matured plans, and 
had the satisfaction to receive his full concurrence ; 
though he and the commanders of brigades very justly 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 49 

laid great stress on the necessity, if possible, of getting 
this frigate into the harbor of Port Royal. 

On Tuesday, the 29th of October, the fleet under 
my command left Hampton Roads, and with the army 
transports numbered fifty vessels. On the day previous 
I had despatched the coal vessels, twenty-five in all, 
under convoy of the Vandalia, Commander Haggerty, 
to rendezvous off Savannah — not wishing to give the 
true point. 

The weather had been unsettled in Hampton Roads, 
though it promised well when we sailed, but off Hat- 
teras it blew hard ; some ships got into the breakers, 
and two struck, but without injury. 

On Friday, the ist of November, rough weather 
soon increased into a gale, and we had to encounter 
one of great violence from the southeast, a portion 
of which approached to a hurricane. The fleet was 
utterly dispersed, and on Saturday morning one sail 
only was in sight from the deck of the Wabash. 

On the following day the weather moderated, and 
the steamers and ships began to re-appear. Orders (not 
to be opened except in case of a separation) were fur- 
nished to all the men-of-war by myself, and to the 
transports by Brigadier General Sherman. As the vessels 
rejoined, reports came in of disasters. I expected to 
hear of many ; but when the severity of the gale and 
the character of the vessels are considered, we have 
only cause for great thankfulness. 

In reference to the men-of-war, the Isaac Smith, a 
most efficient and well-armed vessel for the class pur- 
chased, but not intended to encounter such sea and 
wind, had to throw her formidable battery overboard 
to keep from foundering; but, thus relieved. Lieutenant 

4 



50 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Commanding Nicholson was enabled to go to the assist- 
ance of the chartered steamer Governor, then in a 
very dangerous condition, on board of which was our 
fine battalion of marines, under Major Reynolds. They 
were finally rescued by Captain Ringgold in the 
Sabine, under difficult circumstances ; soon after which 
the Governor went down. I believe seven of the 
marines were drowned by their own imprudence. Lieu- 
tenant Commanding Nicholson's conduct in the Isaac 
Smith has met with my warm commendation. 

The Peerless transport, in a sinking condition, was 
met by the Mohican, Commander Godon. All the 
people on board, twenty-six in number, were saved 
under very perilous circumstances, in which service 
Lieutenant H. W. Miller was very favorably noticed 
by his commander. 

On passing Charleston I sent in the Seneca, Lieu- 
tenant Commanding Ammen, to direct Captain Lardner 
to join me with the steamer Susquehannah off Port 
Royal without delay. On Monday, at eight o'clock in 
the morning, I anchored off the bar, with some twenty- 
five vessels in company, with many more heaving in 
sight. 

The Department is aware that all the aids to 
navigation had been removed, and the bar lies ten 
miles seaward, with no features on the shore line of 
sufficient prominence to make any bearings reliable. 
But to the skill of Commander Davis, the Fleet Captain, 
and Mr. Boutelle, the able assistant of the Coast Survey 
in charge of the steamer Vixen, the channel was im- 
mediately found, sounded out, and buoyed. By three 
o'clock I received assurances from Captain Davis that 
I could send forward the lighter transports — those 
under eighteen feet — with all the gunboats, which was 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 5 I 

immediately done ; and before dark they were securely 
anchored in the roadstead of Port Royal, South Caro- 
lina. The gunboats almost immediately opened their 
batteries upon two or three rebel steamers, under 
Commodore Tatnall, instantly chasing him under the 
shelter of the batteries. 

In the morning, Commander John Rodgers, of the 
United States steamer Flag, temporarily on board this 
ship and acting on my staff, accompanied by Brigadier 
General Wright, in the gunboat Ottawa (Lieutenant 
Commanding Stevens), and supported by the Seneca 
(Lieutenant Commanding Ammen), the Curlew (Acting 
Lieutenant Commanding Watmough), and the Isaac 
Smith (Lieutenant Commanding Nicholson), made a re- 
connoissance in force, and drew the fire of the batteries 
on Hilton Head and Bay Point, sufficiently to show 
that the fortifications were works of strength and 
scientifically constructed. In the evening of Monday, 
Captain Davis and Mr. Boutelle reported water enough 
for the Wabash to venture in. 

The responsibility of hazarding so noble a frigate 
was not a light one. Over a prolonged bar of over 
two miles there was but a foot or two of water to 
spare ; and the fall and rise of tide is such, that if 
she had grounded she would have sustained most 
serious injury from straining, if not totally lost. Too 
much however was at stake to hesitate, and the result 
was entirely successful. 

On the morning of Tuesday the Wabash crossed 
the bar, followed closely by the frigate Susquehannah, 
the Atlantic, Vanderbilt, and other transports of deep 
draft; and on running through that portion of the 
fleet already in, the safe passage of this great ship 



52 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

over the bar was hailed by gratifying cheers from the 
crowded vessels. 

We anchored, and immediately commenced prepar- 
ing the ship for action ; but the delay of planting 
buoys, particularly on the Fishing Rip, a dangerous 
shoal we had to avoid, rendered the hour late before 
it was possible to move with the attacking squadron. 
In our anxiety to get the outline of the forts before 
dark we stood in too near this shoal, and the ship 
grounded. By the time she was gotten off, it was too 
late in my judgment to proceed, and I made signal 
for the squadron to anchor out of gun-shot from the 
enemy. 

To-day the wind blows a gale from the southward 
and westward, and the attack is unavoidably post- 
poned. 

I have the honor to be, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off Hilton Head, Port Royal Harbor, Nov. 8th, 1861. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — I have the honor to inform you that 
yesterday I attacked the enemy's batteries on Bay 
Point and Hilton Head, Forts Beauregard and Walker, 
and succeeded in silencing them, after an engagement 
of four hours duration, and in driving away the squad- 
ron of rebel steamers under Commodore Tatnall. 

The reconnoissances of yesterday made us acquainted 
with the superiority of Fort Walker, and to that I 
directed my special efforts ; engaging it at a distance 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 53 

of first eight and afterwards six hundred yards. 
But the plan of attack brought the squadron suffi- 
ciently near Fort Beauregard to receive its fire, and 
the ships were frequently fighting the batteries on both 
sides at the same time. 

The action was begun, on my part, at twenty-six 
minutes after nine, and at half past two the American 
ensign was hoisted on the flag-staff of Fort Walker, 
and this morning at sunrise, on that of Fort Beaure- 
gard. 

The defeat of the enemy terminated in utter rout 
and confusion ; their quarters and encampments were 
abandoned without an attempt to carry away either 
public or private property. The ground over which 
they fled was strewn with the arms of private soldiers, 
and the officers retired in too much haste to submit 
to the encumbrance of their swords. 

Landing my marines and a company of seamen, 
I took possession of the deserted ground, and held the 
fort on Hilton Head till the arrival of General Sher- 
man, to whom I had the honor to transfer its occu- 
pation. 

We have captured forty-three pieces of cannon, 
most of them of the heaviest calibre and the most im- 
proved description. 

The bearer of these dispatches will have the honor 
to carry with him the captured flags and two small 
brass field-pieces lately belonging to the State of South 
Carolina, which are sent home as suitable trophies of the 
success of the day. I enclose herewith a copy of the 
General Order which is to be read in the fleet to- 
morrow morning at muster. 

A detailed account of this battle will be submitted 
hereafter. 



54 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I have the honor to be very respectfully your 
most obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 

The bearer of dispatches will also carry with him 
the first American ensign raised upon the soil of 
South Carolina since this rebellion broke out. 



General Order No. 2. 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Hilton Head, Port Royal Bay, Nov. 8th, 1861. 

It is the grateful duty of the Commander-in-Chief 
to make a public acknowledgment of his entire com- 
mendations of the coolness, discipline, skill, and gallan- 
try displayed by the officers and men under his com- 
mand, in the capture of the batteries on Hilton Head 
and Bay Point, after an action of four hours' duration. 

The Flag Officer fully sympathizes with the officers 
and men of his squadron in the satisfaction they must 
feel at seeing the ensign of the Union flying once 
more in the State of South Carolina, which has been 
the chief promoter of the wicked and unprovoked 
rebellion they have been called upon to suppress. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 55 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 8th, 1862. 

To Commander E. G. Parrott, United States Ship Augusta, 
Port Royal Harbor, South Carolina. 

Sir: — On receipt of this order you will please 
proceed off Savannah, Georgia, to assume the blockade 
of that port ; and you will report yourself to the 
senior officer there. 

The accompanying documents are for your con- 
sideration. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, Nov. 9th, 1861. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — Since writing my official dispatch I have 
sent gunboats to take possession of Beaufort to protect 
the inhabitants, but I regret to say they have fled, and 
the town is abandoned to the negroes, represented to 
me as in a lawless condition. 

The light- vessels, which I hoped to save, were 
destroyed on the desertion of the forts by the rebels. 

The post-office was visited, and a number of docu- 
ments and letters obtained. 

I have covered Skull creek and the mouth of Broad 
river, and have cut off this communication between 
Charleston and Savannah. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



56 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

United States Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, Nov. nth, 1861. 

Hon. Gidkon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — I have the honor now to submit the following 
detailed account of the action of the 7th of November. 

From the reconnoissance of the 5th, we were led 
to believe that the fort.s on Bay Point and Hilton 
Head were armed with more than twenty guns each, of 
the heaviest calibre and longest range, and were well 
constructed and well manned ; but that the one on Hilton 
Head was the strongest. The di.stance between them 
is two and two-tenths nautical miles, — too great to 
admit of their being advantageously engaged at the 
same time, except at long shot. I resolved, there- 
fore, to undertake the reduction of Hilton Head (or 
as I shall hereafter call it, Fort Walker), first ; and 
afterwards to turn my attention to Fort Beauregard, 
the fort on Bay Point. The greater part of the guns 
of Fort Walker were presented upon two water fronts > 
and the flanks were but slightly guarded, especially 
on the north, on which side the approach of an enemy 
had not been looked for. 

A fleet of the enemy, consisting of seven steamers, 
armed, but to what extent I was not informed further 
than that they carried rifled guns, occupied the northern 
portion of the harbor, and stretched along from the 
mouth of Beaufort river to Skull creek. 

It was high water on the 7th instant at 11.35 
a. m., by the tables of the Coast Survey. 

These circumstances, the superiority of Fort Walker, 
and its weakness on the northern flank, the presence 
of the rebel fleet, and the flood tide of the morning 
decided the plan of attack, and the order of battle. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 5/ 

The order of battle comprised a main squadron 
ranged in a line ahead, and a flanking squadron, which 
was to be thrown off on the northern section of the 
harbor to engage the enemy's flotilla, and prevent their 
raking the rear ships of the line when it turned to 
the southward, or cutting off a disabled vessel. 

The main squadron consisted of the frigate Wabash, 
Commander C. R. P. Rodgers, the leading ship ; the 
frigate Susquehannah, Captain J. L. Lardner; the sloop 
Mohican, Commander S. W. Godon; the sloop Semi- 
nole, Commander J. P. Gillis ; the sloop Pawnee, Lieu- 
tenant Commanding R. H. Wyman ; the gunboat Una- 
dilla, Lieutenant Commanding N. Collins ; the gunboat 
Ottawa, Lieutenant Commanding T. H. Stevens ; the gun- 
boat Pembina, Lieutenant Commanding J. P. Bankhead ; 
and the sailing sloop Vandalia, Commander F. S. Hag- 
gerty, towed by the Isaac Smith* Lieutenant Command- 
ing J. W. A. Nicholson. The flanking squadron con- 
sisted of the gunboat Bienville, Commander Charles 
Steedman, the leading ship ; the gunboat Seneca, Lieu- 
tenant Commanding Daniel Ammen ; the gunboat Curlew, 
Lieutenant Commanding P. G. Watmough ; the gunboat 
Penguin, Lieutenant Commanding T. A. Budd ; and the 
gunboat Augusta, Commander E. G. Parrott, the closing 
ship of that line. The plan of attack was to pass up 
midway between Forts Walker and Beauregard, receiv- 
ing and returning the fire of both, to a certain dist- 
ance about two and a half miles north of the latter. 
At that point the line was to turn to the south round 
by the west and close in with Fort Walker, encoun- 
tering it on its weakest flank, and at the same time 
enfilading in nearly a direct line its two water-faces. 
While standing to the southward the vessels of the 
line were head to tide, which kept them under com- 



58 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

mand whilst the rate of going was diminished. When 
abreast of the fort the engine was to be slowed, and 
the movement reduced to only as much as would be 
just sufficient to overcome the tide, to preserve the 
order of battle by passing the batteries in slow suc- 
cession, and to avoid becoming a fixed mark for the 
enemy's fire. On reaching the extremity of Hilton 
Head and the shoal ground making off from it, the 
line was to turn to the north by the east, and pass- 
ing to the northward, to engage Fort Walker with the 
port battery, nearer than when first on the same course. 
These evolutions were to be repeated. 

The accompanying plan will explain the preceding 
description. 

The Captains of the ships had been called on 
board and instructed as to the general formation of 
the lines, and their own respective places. 

At eight o'clock the signal was made to get under 
way. At 8.10, the ship, riding to the flood, tripped 
her anchor; and at 8.30, the ship turned and was 
headed in for the forts. At 9, the signal was made 
for " close order." At 9.26, the action was commenced 
by a gun from Fort Walker, immediately followed by 
another from Fort Beauregard. This was answered at 
once from this ship, and immediately after from the 
Susquehannah. At 10 o'clock, the leading ship of the 
line turned to the southward, and made signal to the 
Vandalia (which ship, in tow of the Isaac Smith, was 
dropping astern, and was exposed without support to 
the fire of Fort Beauregard), to join company. At 
10.15, the signal was made for closer action, the Wabash 
slowly passing Fort Walker at a distance, when abreast, 
of eight hundred yards. At ii, the signal was made 
to get into and preserve stations; and at 11.15, to 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 59 

follow the motions of the Commander-in-Chief At 
11.30, the enemy's flag was shot away. Standing to 
the northward, nearly in the line shown in the diagram, 
the ship's head was again turned to the southward, 
and she passed the guns of Fort Walker at a distance 
less than six hundred yards. (The sights were ad- 
justed to five hundred and fifty yards). The second 
fire with the starboard guns of the Wabash, and of 
Captain Lardner in the Susquehannah, my second in 
command, who always kept so near as to give me 
the entire support of his formidable battery, seems, at 
this short distance, to have discomfited the enemy. 
Its effect was increased by the shells thrown from the 
smaller vessels at the enfilading point. It was evident 
that the enemy's fire was becoming much less frequent, 
and finally it was kept up at such long intervals, and 
with so few guns, as to be of little consequence. 
After the Wabash and Susquehannah had passed to 
the northward, and given the fort the fire of their port 
battery the third time, the enemy had entirely ceased to 
reply, and the battle was ended. At 1. 1 5, the Ottawa 
signaled that the works at Hilton Head were aban- 
doned. This information was, a few minutes later, re- 
peated by the Pembina, As soon as the starboard 
guns of this ship, and the Susquehannah, had been 
brought to bear a third time upon Fort Walker, I 
sent Commander John Rodgers on shore with a flag 
of truce ; the hasty flight of the enemy was visible, 
and was reported from the tops. At twenty minutes 
after two, Captain Rodgers hoisted the flag of the 
Union over the deserted post. At forty-five minutes 
after two, I anchored, and sent Lieutenant Commander 
C. R. P. Rodgers on shore, with the marines and a 



6o OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

party of seamen to take possession, and prevent, if 
necessary, the destruction of public property. 

The transports now got under way and came up 
rapidly, and by night-fall Brigadier General Wright's 
brigade had landed and entered upon the occupation 
of the ground. 

I have said, in the beginning of this report, that 
the plan of attack designed making the reduction 
of Fort Walker the -business of the day. In passing 
to the northward, however, we had improved every op- 
portunity of firing at long range upon Fort Beauregard. 
As soon as the fate of Fort Walker was decided, I 
dispatched a small squadron to Fort Beauregard, to 
reconnoitre and ascertain its condition, and to prevent 
the rebel steamers returning to carry away either per- 
sons or property. 

Near sunset it was discovered that the flag upon 
this fort was hauled down, and that the fort was ap- 
parently abandoned. 

At sunrise, the next day, the American ensign was 
hoisted on the flag-staff of Fort Beauregard, by Lieu- 
tenant Commanding Ammen. 

The Pocahontas, Commander Percival Drayton, had 
suffered from the gale on Friday night so badly as 
not to be able to enter Port Royal until the morning 
of the 7th. He reached the scene of action about 
twelve o'clock, and rendered gallant service by engaging 
the batteries on both sides in succession. Lieutenant 
Commanding H. S. Newcombe, of the R. B. Forbes, 
which vessel had been employed in towing in the Great 
Republic, arrived in time to take good part in the 
action ; and, finally, the tug Mercury, Acting Master 
Martin commanding, employed his single Parrott gun 
with skill and effect. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 6l 

After congratulating you upon the success, thus 
far, of an expedition which had its origin in the 
counsels of the Department, and which the Department 
has fostered and labored to render efficient, the grati- 
fying duty remains to be performed of according to 
each and all their due share of praise for good con- 
duct in this encounter with the enemy. This duty, 
though most welcome, is still delicate. 

I am well aware that each one did his part in 
his place; and when I discriminate, it is in cases that 
necessarily fell under my own immediate observation. 

I have no doubt that all would have embraced 
and improved the same opportunities of distinction ; 
and in noticing those who were made prominent by 
their stations, or who were near me during the action, 
I am showing no invidious preference. 

The General Order No. 2, already forwarded to 
the Department, expressed in general terms my com- 
mendation of the gallantry and skill of the officers 
and men. 

The reports of the commanding officers of the 
several ships, herewith enclosed, do justice to those 
under them, while the results speak for the command- 
ing officers themselves. The names of the latter are 
mentioned in the beginning of this dispatch. I refer 
with pleasure to them again. They did their duty to 
my satisfaction, and I am most happy to bear testi- 
mony to their zeal and ability. 

The officers of this ship, to whom I am deeply 
indebted, will be mentioned by her Commander, C. R. 
P. Rodgers, in his special report. 

It affords me the highest gratification to speak of 
the manner in which this ship was handled during 
the engagement, — owing in a great measure to the 



62 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

professional skill, the calm and rapid judgment, and 
the excellent management of Commander C. R. P. 
Rodgers. His attention was divided between this duty 
and the effective service of the guns, which involved 
the estimation of distances, the regulation of fuses, and 
the general supervision of the divisions. His conduct 
and judicious control of everything within the sphere 
of his duty, though no more than was to be expected 
from his established reputation, impressed me with a 
higher estimation than ever of his attainments and 
character. 

I had also an opportunity to remark the admira- 
ble coolness and discrimination of the First Lieuten- 
ant, T. G. Corbin. The good order, discipline, and effi- 
ciency in ev^ery respect of this ship, are to a great 
extent the results of his labors as executive officer, 
and they were conspicuous on this occasion. 

Acting Master Stites, acting as pilot, was devoted 
and intelligent in the performance of his duties ; and 
the Third Assistant Engineer Missimer, who attended 
the bell, was prompt and always correct. 

Acting Master S. W. Preston, acting as my flag 
lieutenant, displayed throughout the day an undisturbed 
intelligence and a quick and general observation which 
proved very useful ; his duties as signal officer were 
performed without mistake. This gentleman, and the 
young officers, Mr. Samson, Mr. Robertson, and Mr 
Rowland, who were also under my eye in immediate 
command of the pivot guns and spar deck divisions, 
sustained the reputation and exhibited the benefits of 
the Naval Academy, the training of which only could 
make such valuable officers of such young men. 

Commander John Rodgers, a passenger in this 
ship, going to take command of the steamer Flag, 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 63 

volunteered to act upon my staff. It would be diffi- 
cult for me to enumerate the duties he performed, 
they were so numerous and various; and he brought 
to them all an invincible energy, and the highest order 
of professional knowledge and merit. I was glad to 
show my appreciation of his great services, by allow- 
ing him the honor to hoist the first American flag 
on the rebellious soil of South Carolina. 

My secretary, Mr. Alexander McKinley, was by 
my side throughout the engagement, making memoranda 
under my direction ; he evinced the same cool bravery 
which he once before had an opportunity of showing 
under fire in a foreign land. It gives me pleasure to 
mention him here, as a gentleman of intelligence, of 
great worth, and of heartfelt devotion to his country. 

I have yet to speak of the chief of my staff, and 
fleet captain, Commander Charles H. Davis. In the 
organization of our large fleet before sailing, and in 
the preparation and systematic arrangement of the 
details of our contemplated work, — in short, in all the 
duties pertaining to the flag officer, — I received his most 
valuable assistance. He possesses the rare quality of 
being a man of science, and a practical officer ; keep- 
ing the love of science subordinate to the regular 
duties of his profession. During the action he watched 
over the movements of the fleet, kept the official min- 
utes, and evinced that coolness in danger which to my 
knowledge for thirty years, has been a conspicuous trait 
in his character. 

I have the honor to be, respectfully, your most 
obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



64 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, Nov. loth, 1861. 
Lieutenant Commanding Napoleon Collins, 
United States Gunboat Unadilla, 
Port Royal Harbor: 

Sir : — It has been reported to me by Lieutenant 
Commanding Ammen, that, on taking possession of the 
town of Beaufort under my order of the 8th inst., 
he found that most of the white inhabitants had aban- 
doned the town, and that the negroes were committing 
excesses and destroying private property. 

You will proceed with the most convenient des- 
patch in the gunboat Unadilla, under your command, 
to Beaufort, where you will find the gunboat Pembina^ 
Lieutenant Commanding Bankhead, and the gunboat 
Curlew, Lieutenant Commanding Watmough, and assume 
the command of the station. 

You will employ your force in suppressing any 
excesses on the part of the negroes ; and you will 
take pains to assure the white inhabitants that there is no 
intention to disturb them in the exercise of their private 
rights, or in the enjoyment of their private property. 

Acting on this principle of conduct, you will pur- 
sue any other measures that may tend to create con- 
fidence, to bring back the people to their homes, and 
to re-establish order. 

You will please send Lieutenant Commanding 
Watmough to report to me to-morrow morning, in 
person, upon the actual state of things, and upon the 
steps you may have found it expedient to take. 

Any information you may have it in your power to 
collect concerning the state of the surrounding country- 
will be valuable. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 65 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, Nov. 12th, 1861. 

Honorable Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I beg leave to enclose to the Department 
the report of Lieutenant Commanding Ammen and 
Lieutenant Commanding Sproston, which I trust will 
be found interesting; also the report of Lieutenant 
Commanding Collins, and a copy of my instructions 
to him in relation to the investment of Beaufort. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, Nov. 14th, 1861. 

To Acting- Lieutenant Commanding T. A. Budd, U. S. S. Penguin, 
Port Royal Harbor, South Carolina : 

Sir: — You will proceed with the Penguin under 
your command, and blockade the harbor of George- 
town, South Carolina. 

Captain Ringgold, of the Sabine, is the senior 
officer, and you will report accordingly on his arrival 
there, for I presume you will be in advance of him. 

Enclosed is a memorandum of vessels suspected 
of intending to run the blockade, which you will 
deliver to Captain Ringgold, previously taking a copy 
of the same for your own use ; also copy of a note 
from the Acting Secretary of State, F. W. Seward, to 
the Secretary of the Navy. 

You will stop off Charleston and communicate 
with Captain Lardner, of the Susquehanna, delivering 
5 



66 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

the papers addressed to him, and informing him of 
your destination. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 

P. S. — Letter just received from Captain Lardner. 
Report to him to cover Bull's Bay, or Edisto, as he 
may deem best. The Gem of the Sea, in that case, 
should go on to Georgetown, until I can get a steamer 
there ; but all is left to Captain Lardner's discretion. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal, Nov. i8th, 1861. 



Brigadier-General Sherman, 

Commanding Military Forces : 



My Dear General: — You will regret to learn 
that desecration and plundering, by persons in boats 
from the transports and coal vessels, have been going 
on. Houses have been broken into on Parry Island and 
elsewhere, and the furniture destroyed. In that of Dr. 
Meens, the amusement seems to have been to fire through 
a fine piano with pistols. 

You will, I am sure, be pleased to learn that I 
have taken measures to arrest this nefarious practice 
on the water, so disgraceful to our arms, and so shock- 
ing to your sentiments and mine. In future, no boats 
from the transports will be permitted to land on the 
river shores, except they have a pass from some officer 
authorized by you to give one. I should be pleased 
to join you in any measure to prevent these practices 
that you may deem fitting and proper. This morning 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 6/ 

I visited all the ships of the squadron, and in a few 
remarks to the crews enjoined upon them a rigid 
abstinence on this matter. 

I will not trouble you here with another matter, 
but will see you on the subject. The captains of the 
transports apply to me to suppress mutinies, etc. ; and 
to-day a large number of the Great Republic's men 
refused duty, and resisted being confined ; but I sent 
a lieutenant on board, when, after speaking to them, 
twenty-three submitted at once, and were put in irons. 

Hoping to get on shore to see you soon, I am, 
my dear General, yours most truly, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. i8th, 1861. 

To Commander S. W. Godon, United States Ship Mohican, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C. : 

Sir: — You will proceed to sea to-morrow, and 
cruise between Savannah and Fernandina for the general 
purposes of blockade, and for the special object of in- 
tercepting the vessels bound from Great Britain to 
Savannah or some other Southern port which is men- 
tioned in the enclosed list. 

My information concerning these vessels is minute 
and reliable ; their cargoes are very valuable, and con- 
sist principally of munitions of war, clothing, and 
medicines. 

You will not anchor unless you find it expedient, 
but keep under way within sight of the land, yet far 
enough off to command the view of an extended 



68 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

range of coast. You will communicate with the block- 
ading vessels on this part of our station, as opportu- 
nity may offer, to procure information; and you will 
read these orders to any senior or superior officer you 
may fall in with. 

It being the object of your cruise to intercept 
vessels expected from sea, it will be desirable to avoid 
attracting notice from shore, and particularly to abstain 
from making any demonstration of your force. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 19th, 1861. 

To Captain John Rodger.s, United States Navy, 

United States Ship Flag, Port Royal Harbor, S. C. : 

Sir : — You will proceed to sea, and report to 
Commander Missroon, off Savannah, for duty in aid of 
the blockade of that port. 

I wish you, while there, to confer with Captain 
Missroon on the most feasible plan of placing obstruc- 
tions on the bar of Tybee Entrance, for which, as you are 
aware, the Department has made extensive preparations. 

A reconnoissance will probably enable you to form 
an appropriate estimate of the force on Tybee Island, 
and of the possibility of gaining access to the inner 
bar ; but in making this reconnoissance, you will please 
to bear in mind that nothing need be risked. 

If the information acquired by this reconnoissance 
should be important, I wish you to return and com- 
municate it to me immediately. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 69 

I will not omit this opportunity of again calling 
your attention to the vessels bound from England to 
a southward port, mentioned in my recent dispatches. 
You have a list of them, and will please exercise the 
utmost vigilance in regard to them. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 21st, 1861. 

To Captain G. Hancock, R. N., 

Commanding H. B. M. Ship Immortalite, 

and Senior Naval Officer on this Coast, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C. : 

Sir: — I have had the honor to receive your com- 
munication of yesterday, conceived and expressed in a 
spirit of frankness and courtesy which commands my 
confidence. 

I fully understand the necessity that must fre- 
quently arise for offering to the foreign residents of 
States and cities engaged in active war the protec- 
tion of an armed vessel of their own nation. Such ne- 
cessity has occurred in my own experience of foreign 
service ; and I am so far from opposing the offer of 
such protection, that I shall be most happy, as you 
do me the justice to believe, to concur in it, and to 
add my own assistance to your efforts, whenever it 
can contribute to the security or convenience of your 
countrymen. 

Accordingly, it affords me pleasure to say, that 
your presence generally in the neighborhood of my ope- 



70 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

rations will not be regarded by me as in any manner 
unsuitable. 

But, on account of the liability of misinterpretation, 
the unavoidable constraint which the constant presence 
of a foreign ship-of-war in my squadron would exer- 
cise, and for other obvious reasons, I should deem it 
objectionable to be followed systematically in my pro- 
gress from point to point. 

I shall offer you the highest proof of my confi- 
dence in your sentiments, and of my just appreciation 
of your candor, by making you acquainted, on the eve 
of my departure from this place, with the next point 
of intended debarkation, in order that you may be 
able to form a judgment of the necessity of your 
presence for the purpose of affording protection to Her 
Britannic Majesty's subjects. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your 
most obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 21st, 1861. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform the Depart- 
ment that, on the day after the action of November 
7th, I despatched the United States Steamer Augusta, 
Commander E. G. Parrott, to Savannah, to enforce the 
blockade of that port. 

On the nth, I despatched the armed bark Gem 
of the Sea, Acting- Volunteer Lieutenant J. B. Baxter, 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 7 1 

to Charleston, directing him to report to Captain Lard- 
ner, of the Susquehanna. 

On the 14th, I despatched the United States Ship 
Florida, Commander J. R. Goldsborough, to assist in the 
blockade of Savannah and the ports to the south- 
ward. 

On the same day I gave orders to the Penguin, 
Acting-Lieutenant T. A. Budd, to proceed to the block- 
ade of Georgetown ; but before her departure, in con- 
sequence of a communication received from Captain 
Lardner, relating to Edisto and Bull's Bay, I modified 
his orders, directing him to report himself to Captain 
Lardner, for the purpose, if required, of assisting in the 
blockade of Edisto and Bull's Bay. 

On the 1 8th of November, after the receipt of 
the telegram from Halifax, relating to the Fingal, I 
despatched the Mohican, Commander S. W. Godon, to 
cruise between Savannah and Fernandina, for the gen- 
eral purposes of blockade, and particularly for the 
special object of intercepting vessels bound from Great 
Britain to Savannah, or any other Southern port; and 
on the 1 8th, I despatched the steamer Flag also to 
Savannah. The vessels now engaged in blockade in 
my department are, the frigate Sabine, the steamer 
Susquehanna, the steamer Alabama, the steamer Pen- 
guin, the armed bark Gem of the Sea, the sloop 
Savannah, steamer Augusta, steamer Florida, steamer 
Mohican, steamer Flag, and frigate St. Lawrence. 

The sloop-of-war Dale, engaged in the blockade 
off the coast of Florida, has come into this port for 
water. 

The vessels now in this port have been constantly 
employed in various expeditions since their repairs, 



72 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

and I purpose, to-morrow, to make an armed recon- 
noissance of St. Helena Sound. 

A memorandum just received from Commander 
Parrott, of the Augusta, states that Commander John 
Rodgers, in the Flag, is engaged in sounding out and 
buoying the channel of Savannah. 

I am looking hourly for the Bienville, with our 
ammunition. 

I have the honor to be, respectfully, your obedient 
servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Saturday evening, Nov. 23d, 1861. 

To Brigadier-General Sherman, Commanding, etc. : 

General : — I am thankful for the extract you 
have kindly sent me from Colonel Terry's report, for 
it confirms what Commander J. Rodgers, of the Flag, 
reported as his opinion. 

He has been sounding the Savannah bar, and left 
again to-day, with three vessels, to continue his work 
up to Tybee. If the forts there have really been 
abandoned, which I shall know to-morrow, I will cork 
up Savannah like a bottle, by placing a frigate in the 
roads opposite Tybee, and out of range from Pulaski. 

I feel some concern about the report of the Fin- 
gal getting in. If a week ago from last Sunday, or 
Monday, be meant in Colonel Terry's letter, it is barely 
possible she may have run the blockade ; this would 
be the loth of November. I had a steamer there on 
the 8th, and they have been going down ever since; 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 73 

there are eight men-of-war now from Savannah to Fer- 
nandina, cruising and blockading. 

The Fingal had but four pieces of ordnance ; we 
have a complete invoice of her cargo, valued at 
;^48,336. She had 24,000 lbs. of powder, 11,340 rifles, 
400,000 cartridges, a half million percussion caps, etc. 

We have had an expedition into Johnson's creek 
to-day; an intelligent negro informed the officer in 
charge of it that the rebels were intrenching at Port 
Royal Ferry depot, and had four guns mounted, the 
size of the smallest guns in the fort at Bay Point. 

I am, General, yours very truly, 

S. F. Du Pont. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 25th, 1861. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform the Department 
that the flag of the United States is flying over the 
territory of the State of Georgia. 

As soon as the serious injury to the boilers of 
the Flag had been repaired, I dispatched Commander 
John Rodgers to Tybee Entrance, the mouth of Savan- 
nah river, to report to Commander Missroon, the senior 
officer, for a preliminary examination of the bars, and 
for the determination of the most suitable place for 
sinking the proposed obstructions to the navigation of 
the river. 

Captain Rodgers was instructed "to push his re- 
connoissance so far as to form an approximate estimate 
of the force on Tybee Island, and of the possibility 



74 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

of gaining access to the inner bar ;" and, further, " if 
the information acquired by this reconnoissance should 
be important, to return and communicate it to me im- 
mediately." 

I was not surprised when he came back and re- 
ported that the defences on Tybee Island had probably 
been abandoned. Deeming it proper, however, to add 
the Seneca, Lieutenant Commanding Ammen, and Poca- 
hontas, Lieutenant Commanding Balch, to his force, I 
directed him to renew his approaches with caution, and, 
if no opposition was met with, to occupy the channel. 

I am happy to have it now in my power to in- 
form the Department that the Flag, the Augusta, and 
the Pocahontas are at anchor in the harbor, abreast of 
Tybee beacon and light, and that the Savannah has 
been ordered to take the same position. 

The abandonment of Tybee Island, on which there 
is a strong Martello tower, with a battery at its base, 
is due to the terror inspired by the bombardment of 
Forts Walker and Beauregard, and is a direct fruit of 
the victory of the 7th. 

By the fall of Tybee Island the reduction of Fort 
Pulaski, which is within easy mortar distance, becomes 
only a question of time. 

The rebels have themselves placed sufficient ob- 
structions in the river at Pulaski, and thus, by the co- 
operation of their own fears with our efforts, the harbor 
of Savannah is effectually closed. 

I have the honor to be, sir, respectfully, your most 
obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 75 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 25th, 1861. 
To Honorable Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — Whilst waiting for the ammunition expected 
in the Bienville, I have not suffered the squadron to 
be idle. The men-of-war of small draft, and the tug 
Ellen, have ascended Broad and Beaufort rivers, and 
penetrated into the adjacent creeks. The country is 
everywhere in the same deplorable state. 

The slaves are left to take care of themselves, 
except that occasional attempts are made by their 
former masters to carry them off at night, when, in 
case of resistance, extreme violence is used. A great 
deal of cotton of this year's growth, most of which 
is not ginned, is lying about in barns or in the open 
air. I have already taken the first steps towards col- 
lecting it, for I learn from the most intelligent of 
the slaves that orders are given to burn it, and several 
barns have been destroyed on Port Royal Island, on 
the approach of our vessels. 

I have had the honor to report in a separate 
communication the occupation of Tybee Island. 

This morning at four o'clock I dispatched a small 
squadron, consisting of the Pawnee, Commander Dray- 
ton, the Unadilla, Lieutenant Commanding Collins, and 
the Pembina, Lieutenant Commanding Bankhead, to 
examine the waters of St. Helena Sound, and to 
look at the defences, if any, on Hunting and Otter 
Islands, or at Morgan's or the Coosaw rivers ; to in- 
quire into the condition of the neighboring country 
and its inhabitants, and to take possession of any 
abandoned public property. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



^6 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. ist, 1861. 

Commander J. S. Missroon, 

United States Ship Savannah : 

Sir : — This letter will be placed in your hands 
by Commander C. R. P. Rodgers, the Captain of this 
ship, who will communicate to you the desire of the 
Commanding General and myself to obtain an approxi- 
mate knowledge of the position and force of the 
enemy's battery south of Big Tybee Island, of which 
the reconnoissances by land made by Captain Gil- 
more, of the engineers, and the one communicated by 
yourself, were unable to acquire any satisfactory infor- 
mation. 

The examination by land having proved insuffi- 
cient, I have determined to attempt a reconnoissance 
by water, and Commander C. R. P. Rodgers has been 
assigned to this duty, under your direction. The gun- 
boats Ottawa and Pembina go with him ; and to these 
you will add such other vessels as you may think 
expedient. 

The main object of the reconnoissance will be " to 
clear up this point," — to use the language of the 
Commanding General, in an official communication to 
me of this morning, — " whether the enemy's battery is 
on the South Tybee Island, or further south ;" or, in 
other words, whether it is on Little Tybee Island or 
Great Wassaw Island. 

And this I beg you not to lose sight of You 
will please remember that, according to the memoir 
of the coast of Georgia, by A. D. Bache, the Superin- 
tendent of the Coast Survey, Wassaw Inlet " is difficult 
to enter, and has not been surveyed ;" and, further, 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 77 

that the vessels of this squadron are about to be 
employed on other and important service. 

I enjoin it upon you, therefore, not to allow any 
risk to be incurred ; neither from an encounter with 
batteries the force of which is wholly unknown, nor 
from too near an approach to shoals and bars, the 
depths and currents of which have not been deter- 
mined. 

I shall rely upon your best judgment to see that 
my wishes herein are carefully complied with ; and 
that the further prosecution of the original projects of 
the expedition is not crippled by the unnecessary ex- 
posure of the efficient vessels of the fleet. 

Your own acquaintance with the ground, gained 
while in the blockade, will enable you to furnish 
Captain Rodgers with valuable suggestions. 

Very respectfully your most obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 4th, 1861. 

Honorable Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — The apprehension of losing possession of 
the Bay of St. Helena, so exceedingly valuable for a 
harbor, for its proximity to Charleston, and for the 
command it secures of large rivers supplying interior 
communication with the State of South Carolina, has 
induced me to dispatch a second expedition there, 
under Commander Drayton, with orders to hold Otter 



78 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Island until General Sherman is prepared to assume 
military occupation of it, when he will transfer the 
fort to his troops. 

I have also dispatched Commander C. R. P. Rodgers 
to make a reconnoissance of Wassaw Inlet, in order 
to ascertain the position of the enemy's batteries 
there ; information which the Commanding General has 
expressed to me his desire to obtain before landing 
troops on Tybee Island. 

The Department will have the goodness to observe 
that in the necessary occupation of St. Helena Sound 
and of Tybee Roads, and in the examination of Wassaw 
Inlet, a large number of the vessels of my squadron 
is engaged, which will be released and employed on 
blockading duty as soon as Otter and Tybee Islands 
are held by the army. 

Very respectfully your most obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 4th, 1861. 

Hon. Gideon Wellks, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — The second letter of the Department relat- 
ing to the extinguishment of the lights of the block- 
ading vessels is before me. The necessar)'^ orders on 
this subject were, I have the honor to inform the 
Department, immediately issued when the first letter on 
this subject was received. 

Immediately after the capture of Port Royal I 
gave my attention to the blockade on the coast of 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 79 

South Carolina. I closed up North Edisto, Stono, and 
Bull's Bay, besides maintaining the existing force off 
Georgetown, and doubling that off Charleston. The 
blockade of the latter is now so rigorous that the fish- 
ermen have been driven in, and the city of Charles- 
ton is deprived of its usual supply of fish. 

Savannah is , completely stopped up, and there 
has been an outer cordon of blockading vessels, com- 
prising the St. Lawrence, the Mohican, and the Semi- 
nole, which covers the inner blockade of the coast of 
Georgia. 

Unless my own sources of information are not to 
be relied upon, the agents of the United States abroad 
are sometimes misled by incorrect statements. The 
Nashville, for example, I have good reason to believe, 
is now at the wharf in Charleston, without coal or 
cargo. 

There is one obstruction to a constantly efficient 
blockade, that can neither be removed nor overcome; 
and that is fog. The vessels that lie in wait to run 
the blockade, having skillful pilots, and being desperate 
in their attempts, cannot but sometimes succeed under 
the favor of fog or darkness. 

From two recent captures, I am led to think that 
the contraband cargoes are divided and distributed in 
many small vessels before approaching the coast. 

I have the honor to be very respectfully your 
most obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



8o OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S, C, Dec. 6th, 1861. 

To Honorable Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform the Depart- 
ment that the fortifications at Wassaw Inlet have been 
abandoned by the rebels, after removing the guns, 
cutting up the platforms, and breaching one face of 
the fort. 

For the circumstances attending this important 
discovery, and the temporary occupation of the waters 
of Wassaw Sound, as well as for a knowledge of the 
inner and ultimate line of defence selected by the 
enemy, I have the pleasure to refer to the accom- 
panying report of Commander C. R. P. Rodgers, upon 
whose skill and judgment I relied for the execution 
of this undertaking. 

Wassaw Inlet and Sound constitute a second en- 
trance into Savannah river, and as twenty-one feet can 
be carried over the bar at high water, the passage is 
but little inferior to Tybee Entrance. 

The highest point reached by Commander Rodgers 
was about eight miles from Wassaw bar, which is about 
ten miles from Savannah, and between four and five 
from Thunderbolt on one side, and Montgomery on 
the other. These two last places are described in 
the Coast Survey memoirs and reports. 

I attach the highest value to this possession ; but 
I must confess that the addition of the occupation of 
St. Helena Sound, Tybee Entrance, and Wassaw Sound 
by the navy, to the other demands upon the force 
which the Department has so liberally placed at my 
disposal, threatens to embarrass the duties of the 
blockade, and to postpone some other operations. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 8 1 

I hope therefore that the Department will find it 
possible to supply me with more gunboats and other 
vessels of that class propelled by steam ; having which, 
I will venture to indulge in the expectation that the 
whole of the sea - coast of Georgia, and a great part 
of South Carolina, will be under the flag of the United 
States at no distant period. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, Dec. 9th, 1861. 

To Commander C. Steedman, 

United States Ship Bienville, Port Royal Harbor : 

Sir : — Please proceed with all convenient despatch, 
and assume the blockade of St. Simon's Sound. You 
will find herewith some blockading instructions, modi- 
fied in one of the articles ; also, a list of vessels ex- 
pected to run the blockade. 

You are authorized to get Mr. Tice from the 
Flag, as coast pilot. 

I am induced to believe that, since the more 
effectual blockade of Charleston and Savannah, St. 
Simon's Sound is more resorted to in order to for- 
ward cargoes from Brunswick, 

Please collect all the information you can in refer- 
ence to the coast defences, the feelings of the people, etc. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 
6 



82 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 12th, 1861. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — I have refrained all I could from troubling 
the Department with secondary matters, but will now 
ask of it the favor to order a band of music to be 
enlisted for this ship, according to the table of allow- 
ance. 

My opinion, founded on long experience and obser- 
vation, is that the moral, and, indeed, physical effect 
upon a large crew by music at stated hours is most 
salutary. 

With great respect, I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 12th, 1861. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have the honor to transmit to the Depart- 
ment a report of Commander Percival Drayton of a 
second expedition to St. Helena Sound, made under his 
direction, and consisting of the sloop Pawnee, Com- 
mander Drayton, the gunboat Unadilla, Lieutenant Com- 
manding Collins, the armed steamer Isaac Smith, Lieu- 
tenant Commanding Nicholson, the sloop Dale, Lieutenant 
Commanding Truxton, and the United States Surveying 
steamer Vixgn, Mr. Boutelle, Assistant of the Coast 
Survey. 

Commander Drayton left this port on the 5th 
inst., and proceeded farther up the Asshepoo than on 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 83 

the previous occasion, and landed on Hutchinson's 
Island, where he found that all the buildings, includ- 
ing the negro houses, and the picked cotton, had been 
burned two days before. An attempt had been made 
at the same time to drive off the negroes, some of 
whom had been shot in their efforts to escape. Com- 
mander Drayton draws a most painful picture of the 
condition of the negroes, especially of the aged and 
infirm. 

He afterwards explored the Coosaw as far as the 
entrance to Beaufort creek. Here he witnessed a 
similar scene of desolation; and such was the desti- 
tute state of the negroes, that he was induced by their 
earnest entreaties to bring some of them to Otter 
Island, where they were supplied with food by his 
order. 

The Isaac Smith and Dale remain at Otter Island 
to assist the army in its maintenance. 

Very respectfully your most obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 12th, 1861. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — In the further prosecution of my exami- 
nation of the inlets and sounds of the coast of Geor- 
gia, I directed Commander C. R. P. Rodgers to take 
under his command the gunboats Ottawa, Lieutenant 
Commanding Stevens, Seneca, Lieutenant Commanding 
Ammen, and the Pembina, Lieutenant Commanding 
Bankhead, together with the armed steamer Henry 



84 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Andrew, Acting Master Mather, and to proceed to 
Ossibavv Sound, where he was to inform himself as 
accurately as possible of the state of things in the 
inlet and sound, and in the Vernon and Great Ogee- 
chee rivers. 

It appears that there are no batteries on Ossibaw 
Island, or in the Great Ogeechec, up which river he 
ascended as far as Morrill's plantation, which he found 
abandoned. 

There is a fort, advantageously placed and well 
protected by marshes on the side of the land, situated 
on the eastern end of Green Island. It now mounts 
eight guns, and is not yet completed; it commands 
not only Vernon river, but the Little Ogeechee, Hell 
Gate, the passage from Vernon river into the Great 
Ogeechee, and even the channel of the latter river. 

Commander Rodgers' report is herewith enclosed. 

I have the honor to be very respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



United States Flag Ship Wabash, 

Port Rojal Harbor, Dec. 21st, 1861. 

To Commander Ridgley, 

St. lago de Cuba : 

Sir: — Please receive my thanks for the prompt 
manner in which you have repaired to this port and 
furnished me with the important information contained 
a dispatch to you from Consul-Gencral Shufeldt, at 
the Havana. In reference to its subject matter, I 
deem the interests of the public service will be best 
subserved by your early departure for Nassau. You 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 85 

will therefore proceed with St. lago de Cuba, under 
your command, to that port; and after receiving from 
Lieutenant Commanding Temple, of the Flambeau, all 
the information he may have to impart to you, you 
will communicate with the United States Consul at 
Nassau, and get in an official form all the facts touch- 
ing the subject matter of the Consul-General's dispatch. 

You will perceive by the enclosed letters and ex- 
tracts from the Consulate in London, that the Glad- 
iator has been purchased by the rebels, and the vessel 
and cargo are rebel property, notwithstanding her 
English papers. She would be therefore open to 
capture, according to British rule and practice, one 
marine league from any British possession; but she 
is loaded with contraband -of- war for the rebel 
States, and you will make prize of her for this, and 
send her to New York to be libeled. You will, like- 
wise, inform Lieutenant Commander Temple of this 
fact, and direct him to make a prize of the Glad- 
iator, under the above-mentioned circumstances. 

Notwithstanding the most unfriendly and indefensi- 
ble procedure on the part of the authorities at Nas- 
sau, 'as set forth by Consul- General Shufeldt's letter 
to you, you will observe the utmost forbearance and 
discretion in all your intercourse with those authori- 
ties. At the same time, I rely with entire confidence 
upon your firmness and judgment to sustain our rights 
as a people, and as belligerents upon the ocean, when- 
ever any unauthorized attempts may be made to en- 
croach upon them. I leave to your sound discretion your 
own movements after communicating as above directed 
with Lieutenant Commander Temple and the United 
States Consul at Nassau, whether to return here with 
information to me, or to the Havana, or to go direct 



86 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

to Baltimore with dispatches to the Navy Department; 
in case of the latter, showing these orders as your 
authority for so doing. 

Should the cargo of the Gladiator be transhipped, 
whether at Nassau or Havana, I shall want early in- 
formation of that fact. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, Dec. 23d, 1861. 

To Hon. GiDKON Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have the satisfaction to inform the De- 
partment that the main channel leading into Charleston 
harbor has been obstructed by the sinking of a por- 
tion of the stone hulks sent out for this purpose. 

I entrusted this work to the scientific skill of 
Captain Davis, my Fleet Captain ; and the Department 
will perceive by his interesting report, herewith en- 
closed, that he has performed the task with his ac- 
customed ability. 

Apprehending that an attempt would be made to 
injure the defenceless ships and persons unavoidably 
exposed in front, I desired Captain Davis to take with 
him the Mohican, Commander Godon, the Ottawa, 
Lieutenant Commanding Stevens, and the Pocahontas, 
Lieutenant Commander Balch, as a covering force. 
These were judiciously placed so as to bring cross- 
fires to bear ; but the enemy's steamers appeared only 
at a distance. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 8/ 

I have projects for the disposal of others of the 
stone vessels, deferring the execution of them until 
further operations are determined upon. 

Besides the disposition of those on the Charleston 
bar, I have applied eight more to very useful purposes. 
Twenty-four of the first fleet have thus been disposed 
of The Department is aware that one put back. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 23d, 1861. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — I have the honor to inform the Depart- 
ment that after due consideration I determined to 
modify the fifth rule of the " Blockading Instructions" 
heretofore issued to the commanding officers of the 
vessels under my command. 

I was induced to do this in consequence of the 
commanding officer of one of the blockading squadron, 
considering himself bound under the former rule, 
warning off a vessel bound for one of the blockaded 
ports, with coal on board, and money in her coffers 
to purchase cotton, instead of seizing her and sending 
her in for adjudication, the captain of the vessel having 
admitted that he intended to run the blockade and 
obtain a cargo of cotton. 

The modified rule is as follows : 

" Every vessel proceeding towards a blockaded 
port is to be boarded and examined, and if on such 



88 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

examination any irregularity appears in her papers, or 
there are discovered any suspicious circumstances at- 
tending her position or her cargo, and particularly if 
she had any knowledge of the blockade, such vessel 
is to be seized and sent in for adjudication." 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 24th, 1861. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — Since my last report upon the disposition 
of the blockading vessels, such changes have taken 
place as to make another report necessary, in order to 
keep the Department informed on this subject. 

At present there are stationed : 

Off Georgetown, the steamers James Adger and 
Augusta, and the sailing bark the Gem of the Sea. 

Off Charleston, the steam sloop Mohican, the 
steamer Florida, and the sailing bark Roebuck. 

Off Stono, the gunboat Pocahontas. 

In North Edisto, the gunboats Seneca and Penguin. 

In St. Helena Sound, the armed steamer Isaac 
Smith, and the sailing sloop-of-war Dale. These vessels 
command South Edisto. 

In Tybee Roads, the steam sloop Pawnee, the 
steamer Wyandotte, the gunboat Ottawa, and the armed 
tugs Ellen and Henry Andrews. 

Off or inside of Wassaw and Ossibaw, the steam 
sloop Seminole and gunboat Pembina. 

Off Dobay and Sapelo, the steamer Alabama. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 89 

Off St. Simon's, the frigate Susquehanna. 

Off Fernandina, the steamer Bienville. 

The sloop Savannah, withdrawn from Tybee Roads, 
in consequence of her grounding at low water, has 
orders to form an outside line of blockade, by cruising 
from St. Augustine to Tybee Entrance, and the frigate 
St. Lawrence will proceed to sea to-day at noon on 
the same service. 

It is my wish and purpose to hold every inlet 
and sound on the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, 
except, perhaps, Georgetown and Charleston, by having 
a sufficient number of vessels at anchor in them at 
all times. And, as soon as the size of the squadron 
will admit of it, vessels will be so stationed and fur- 
nished with supplies, and inspected by myself, from 
time to time, as may be necessary. 

This last duty of personal inspection will be very 
much aided by having a steam dispatch vessel of con- 
venient size and good speed, so that I need not be 
detained too long from my headquarters, for which I 
should be greatly obliged to the Department. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. 4th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform the Depart- 
ment that the attention of General Sherman and 
myself has been drawn for some time past to the 
design of the enemy to shut up our troops in Port 
Royal Island, by placing obstructions in Coosaw river 



90 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

and Whale Branch, by constructing batteries at Port 
Royal Ferry, at Seabrook, and at or near Boyd's Neck, 
and by accumulating men in this vicinity in such a 
manner as to be able to throw a force of twenty-five 
hundred or three thousand troops upon any one of 
these points at short notice. 

In a confidential communication of the 20th ult. 
(a copy of which I have the honor to enclose, but 
which the Department will perceive, on account of 
references to future operations, is not suited for pub- 
lication), the General informed me that the time had 
arrived for arresting peremptorily the designs of the 
enemy, and for doing it in such a manner as would 
serve a subsequent purpose ; and he requested me to 
furnish my quota of the force to be employed in 
this combined operation. 

The plan of conduct having been fully determined 
in several conferences between the Commanders-in-Chief 
and the heads of the expedition, and the first day of 
the new year having been selected for the time of 
attack, I appointed Commander C. R, P. Rodgers to 
the command of the naval forces, consisting of the 
gunboats Ottawa, Lieutenant Commanding Stevens, Pem- 
bina, Lieutenant Commanding Bankhead, and the four 
armed boats of this ship, carrying howitzers, under 
the charge of Lieutenants Upshur, Luce, and Irwin, 
and Acting Master Kempfif, all of which were to enter 
the Coosaw by Beaufort river, and of the gunboat 
Seneca, Lieutenant Commanding Ammen, and the tug 
Ellen, Acting Master Commanding Budd, both of which 
were to move up Broad river and approach the bat- 
teries at Seabrook and Port Royal Ferry by Whale 
Branch. The armed tug E. B. Hale, Acting Master 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 9 1 

Foster, under the command of Lieutenant Barnes, was 
afterwards dispatched to Commander Rodgers. 

The part assigned to the naval force was to pro- 
tect the landing of the troops at Haywood's planta- 
tion (the first point of debarkation), to cover the route 
of the advancing column and the second point of 
debarkation, and to assail the batteries on their front. 

I refer you, with pleasure, to the official reports 
for the occurrences of the day ; and I have only to 
add that from the note from Brigadier -General Stevens 
(a copy of which accompanies this report), and from 
various other sources, I learn that the naval part of 
the expedition was conducted by Commander Rodgers 
with the highest skill and ability. I have the honor 
to transmit, herewith, his detailed report, which the 
Department will read with interest. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. 8th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — I have the honor to enclose a communi- 
cation from the surgeon of the Savannah to Commander 
Missroon, in reference to the scurvy prevailing in that 
ship. I believe all is doing there to check the progress 
of the symptoms, and the Fleet Surgeon is in receipt of 
a valuable communication on the subject from the chief 
of the Medical Bureau. 

But I am convinced, however effective the medical 



92 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

treatment may be, if some change be not made in 
the mode of supplying this squadron, that this scourge 
will spread, rendering it incumbent to send the ships 
North, which might be fatal to our operations. 

I find it sufficiently trying to spare a vessel on 
account of broken machinery. 

The supply-steamer Rhode Island passed Port Royal 
on the nth of December, south, and the Connecticut 
on the 13th, going south. The latter ship has been 
over three weeks in New York, and before her arrival 
here will have consumed an entire month. 

The Savannah, on being commissioned, left New 
York on the 30th of May last, and has had thirty-seven 
days fresh provisions. I regret I am scarcely prepared 
to make a suggestion ; perhaps a beef-boat, with live 
cattle and vegetables, with a corral formed on shore, 
would come nearer to the requirement 

I trust the Department will not infer any spirit of 
complaint in the above, but only an earnest desire to 
prevent a great evil threatening our efficiency. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



General Order No. 5. 

United States Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. ist, 1862. 

On and after this date the following general regu- 
lations will be observed by the commanding officers 
of the different vessels of this squadron, subject only 
to such deviations as the pressure of active war service 
and the class of ships may render necessary or ex- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 93 

pedient ; and when the causes for such deviation may 
not be obvious to the flag officer or senior officer present, 
they must be reported, or permission to dispense with 
the regulation be asked for by signal or otherwise : 

1. Before anchoring or getting under way, the 
permission of the flag officer or senior officer present 
must be asked by signal ; and after anchoring, the 
condition of the ship must at once be assimilated to 
that of the flag ship, or that of the senior officer 
present ; such as mooring or remaining at single anchor, 
sending up or down yards, loosing sails, etc. 

2. Immediately after anchoring the commanding 
officer of the vessel will report in person to the flag 
officer or senior officer present. 

3. Ships in the presence of the flag officer or 
of any senior officer are not, without his authority, to 
be put in a condition that may prevent or retard their 
proceeding to sea at any moment. 

4. With the exception of the morning and even- 
ing guns, no fire-arms whatever are to be discharged 
from ships or boats, in the presence of the flag officer 
or senior officer present, without his authority. 

5. No vessel arriving where the squadron is lying 
will be boarded until after a boat has been sent from 
the flag ship or that of the senior officer present. 

6. Certain days to scrub clothes and hammocks 
will be designated, and strictly adhered to, except when 
such regulation may interfere with necessary work on 
board ; no clothes or hammocks are to be hung up 
on other days without permission. 

7. The time in the squadron will be regulated 



94 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

by the bell of the flag ship, or that of the senior 
officer present. 

8. Vessels of the squadron on coming into port 
from service, for coal, supplies, or repairs, will imme- 
diately proceed to procure them, and to get ready for 
sea, and when ready, to be so reported by the com- 
manding officer. 

9. Except by those vessels of the squadron which 
may arrive on Sunday, no reports or requisitions, or 
ordinary business, will be referred to the flag officer 
on that day, unless the exigencies of the public ser- 
vice require ; and no unusual work must be done on 
Sunday, except for similar urgent reasons. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. 21, 1862. 

To Commander J. S. Missroon, 

Commanding U. S. S. Savannah, Port Royal Harbor : 

Sir: — I have your communication of this date, 
asking for service in an expedition now fitting out, in 
any capacity in which you can be useful. 

I recognize in this application your well-known 
spirit and earnest zeal in the cause we are uphold- 
ing ; but when the Savannah came in from sea the 
preliminary work had already commenced for the ex- 
pedition in question, and an officer, junior to you, as- 
signed to the command of one of the divisions, which 
would pertain properly to you and to your seniority 
were I to acquiesce in your request. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 95 

In justice to this officer, and to the matured plan, 
I have to decline assenting to your application, while 
appreciating most highly the motives which prompt it. 
I do this with less reluctance, because I feel as- 
sured there will be work for every one in the squad- 
ron before the accomplishment of the objects I have 
in view on this coast. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, Jan. 23d, 1862. 

To Lieutenant Andrew W. Johnson, 
ex-officer, and others : 

Gentlemen : — I think it my duty to acknowledge 
the receipt of your communication of the 22d inst., 
addressed to me at the request of Commander Miss- 
roon, referring to a newspaper article intended to im- 
peach the official character of the latter. 

Though appreciating the sensitiveness of Commander 
Missroon in this matter, the article in question caused 
but a smile on my part, who have known so long 
and so intimately his high character as an officer and 
gentleman, and his patriotic devotion under very trying 
circumstances, to the cause of our country. 

Yet it cannot but be very gratifying to your 
commander to have the intelligent and cordial refuta- 
tion of his commissioned officers, so creditable to him 
and to you, and let me add, as commander of the 
squadron, so agreeable to myself 



96 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your 
obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 



Flag Officer, etc. 



Lieutenant Andrew W. Johnson, ex-officer. 

Surgeon Henry O. Mayo. 

P. Master A. W. Russell. 

Dr. John Corbin, Assistant Surgeon. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, Jan. 28th, 1862. 

To Honorable Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I enclose the report of Commander Parrott, 
on the disposition of the second stone fleet. All agree 
that the work was thoroughly done ; and I reiterate 
my commendation, given in a previous communication, 
of Acting Master Bradbury, and Acting Master Webb, 
whose services are spoken of in Commander Parrott's 
report. 

These officers will go by the first steamer to the 
North, in accordance with the Department's order, and 
are worthy of anything the Department can do for 
them. I regret to lose them from my squadron. 

The Peri, mentioned in Commander Parrott's re- 
port, is safe. 

The Department is misinformed, I infer from a 
letter received last night, as to the Isabel getting into 
Charleston by the main channel, where the previous 
fleet was sunk. The obstruction there is complete, 
and has not been moved by the late gales, the water 
breaking clear across. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 9/ 

The Isabel got in by Maffitt's channel, and as 
that portion of it included between Rattlesnake Shoal 
and the shore had been blocked up by the second 
stone fleet, the possibility of getting into Charleston is 
still more circumscribed. 

The only channels remaining are the Swash and 
a portion of Maffitt's, and I have never less than three 
vessels covering • them, which now ride out the gales 
at anchor. 

Respectfully, etc. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



General Order No. y. 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, Feb. ist, 1862. 

The commanding officers of the vessels attached 
to this squadron will give special attention to all in- 
tercourse between the men under their command and 
the various plantations in their vicinity. 

No stock or provisions of any kind must be taken 
without paying a fair price for the same to the negroes. 

No boat from any of the ships of the squadron 
can be permitted to land anywhere but at Bay Point 
and Hilton Head, without a pass from the Fleet 
Captain. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



98 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 8th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — I have the honor to inform the Depart- 
ment that I have been making preparations for some 
time past for the attack on Fernandina, by calling in 
the appropriate vessels (which involved many changes 
in the blockade), and by filling up the supplies of 
coal and provisions. In some particulars my supply 
of ammunition is short; but a movement like that 
which I have now in contemplation keeps so many 
vessels idle during the period of equipment, that I 
shall not put it off on that account. I am waiting 
now for settled weather. A brigade under Brigadier- 
General Wright forms part of the expedition, and it 
affords me great pleasure to say that General Sher- 
man will accompany it himself 

In the meantime I have, in conjunction with the 
military Commander-in-Chief, made a study of the best 
mode of cutting off the communication between Fort 
Pulaski and the city of Savannah. For this purpose 
a naval and military reconnoissance has been pushed 
in boats on the east side, through Cooper river, Mud 
river, and Wall's Cut, into Wright's river, and on the 
west side, into Little Tybee river or Freeborn's Cut. 

Obstructions were met with in Wall's Cut, con- 
sisting of a double row of piles and a hulk. The 
former were removed by the army sufficiently to clear 
the passage. 

At this stage of the proceedings it was found 
expedient to send one or more gunboats into Wright's 
river, to make a careful survey of the passage round 
Cunningham's Point into Savannah river, and a survey 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 99 

of Mud river. It was decided by General Sherman 
and myself, in conference, to make a simultaneous move- 
ment on the opposite side, through Freeborn's Cut and 
Wilmington Narrows, which should serve as a demon- 
stration to cover up our real purpose of an attack 
on Fernandina, and as a reconnoissance to answer the 
following inquiries : First, whether there were any 
troops or batteries on that side of Wilmington Island ; 
second, whether the cut or narrows was navigable for 
gunboats with facility ; third, whether the channels of 
Savannah river could be commanded from it, or 
whether the distance across the intervening marsh was 
too great; fourth, the direction and termination of this 
creek or narrows to the northward ; and lastly, whether 
gunboats could lie in security in the creek without 
the efficient support of troops and guns on shore. 

To carry out these views two of the regular gun- 
boats and four of the small armed steamers were 
placed under the command of Fleet Captain C. H. 
Davis, who was accompanied by Commander C. R. P. 
Rodgers. 

The transports containing the troops destined for 
Fernandina accompanied the naval detachment, and 
were left at anchor in Wassaw Sound. 

For the circumstances and results of this demon- 
stration and reconnoissance, I have the pleasure to 
refer you to the report of Captain Davis, accompany- 
ing this dispatch. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



lOO OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. loth, 1862, 

To Lieutenant Commanding A. C. Rhind, 

Commanding U. S. S. Crusader, North Edisto : 

Sir : — I have your interesting report of the 7th 
inst., on your occupation of the waters of Edisto, and 
am much pleased with the energy of your supervision 
there. 

A regiment leaves early in the morning for a 
military occupation ; on which point they will land I 
have not been informed. So far the co-operation and 
harmony existing between the two arms of the service 
have been most satisfactory, and I am sure will be 
kept up, so far as depends upon yourself 

I sent your dispatch to the Commanding General, 
who kept it a couple of days, and I presume it assisted 
him in deciding where his force should be placed. 

I am pleased to find that you are giving proper 
and kind attention to the contrabands. I will see the 
General as to removing them from Botany Bay Island. 

Whenever the enemy occupy houses for resort or 
pickets, you are right in shelling them out, and if need 
be, burning down the buildings ; but except from a 
military necessity, I recommend sparing private prop- 
erty. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. lOI 

General Order No. 8. 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 13th, 1862. 

Nothing in the suppression of this rebellion has 
been more difficult to contend with than information 
conveyed to the enemy of projected movements ; some- 
times by individuals holding places of trust, who have 
unexpectedly proved to be correspondents of the press, 
and not unfrequently by the publication of private 
letters. 

A recent glaring instance of the former, in my own 
command, has led to my asking the Navy Department 
to issue a general order on this subject. 

Until this order is promulgated, I hereby enjoin it 
upon every officer and man in this fleet to avoid such 
a violation of military propriety, and of the dictates of 
an honest patriotism ; for whether intended or not, the 
result of the practice is to give aid and comfort to the 
enemy. 

This General Order will be read at muster, on 
board of every vessel in the fleet. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 13th, 1862. 

To Commander John Rodgers, 

Commanding Naval Force, Wall's Cut : 

Sir : — I have learned from Lieutenant Commanding 
Ammen all the particulars of your situation, and late 
proceedings in Wright's and Mud rivers, and of the 



102 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

happy success which has attended the efforts of the 
army to plant a battery on Jones Island, at Venus 
Point. 

I approve entirely of the project explained in your 
letter to the Fleet Captain, of placing a boom across 
the mouth of Mud river, and of mooring the Hale and 
Western World in the channel of the same river ; the 
former across it in such a manner as to command 
the approach from Savannah river, and the latter boat 
to sweep the right flank of the battery over the north- 
west end of the Jones Island. 

After this is done you will please return to this 
anchorage, bringing all the gunboats with all convenient 
expedition, except the Unadilla. 

Until some other important operations, which have 
been agreed upon between General Sherman and myself, 
have been carried out, any further works contemplated 
by the army will have to be done with the limited 
protection of such vessels as it will be in my power 
to leave behind. 

You will not therefore be able to go into Savan- 
nah river at present. 

You will leave Lieutenant Commanding Collins 
in command, and furnish him with a copy of these 
instructions. 

I shall expect to see you soon, by Sunday at 
farthest. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. IO3 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. i8th, 1862. 

To Honorable Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have the honor to transmit herewith the 
reports of Commander John Rodgers and Lieutenant 
Commanding I. P. Bankhead, upon five infernal machines 
discovered in Savannah river, across the entrance to 
Wright's river. 

Accompanying these reports is a drawing of these 
machines in detail, which, examined in connection with 
the enclosed reports, will render their construction and 
working perfectly intelligible. 

Very respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 19th, 1862. 

To Brigadier-General T. W. Sherman, Commanding Expeditionary 
Corps, Hilton Head : 

General: — I dismissed the messenger who brought 
your note of this morning, and ordered my barge, 
meaning to answer your inquiries in person, and to 
communicate to you some interesting details concern- 
ing our future movements. But the heavy mist, and 
the want of a tug to take me over, oblige me after 
all to resort to this less satisfactory mode of inter- 
course. I hope however to see you soon. I have 
perhaps to blame myself for not making a formal 
reply to your letter of the 26th ult., concerning the 
boats for landing ; though, if I remember aright, the 



I04 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

subject has not been omitted in our personal inter- 
views. I will take this occasion to say officially that 
it has always been my intention to give you the use 
of all the boats of the squadron for landing your 
troops, and to make this operation in every way easy 
and secure by the means in my own hands ; though 
I have certainly hoped that before this the boats for 
which you have made a requisition would have been 
furnished. 

I have to communicate to you a new project for 
landing the troops, which will very much lessen the 
difficulties, — provided you find no objection to its 
adoption. 

Will the two hulks in Wassaw Sound be useful 
to you in the contemplated blockade of Lazaretto 
Passage? If so, they are entirely at your service. 

But I hope to see you to-morrow. 
Very truly yours, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal, Feb. 24th, 1862. 

To General Sherman, Commanding Expeditionary Corps, 
On board United States Steamer McClellan : 

General: — After receiving your note I went on 
deck, intending to go on board the McClellan to see 
you, but found you had gone over to the other side. 

I write therefore to say that I have thought over, 
most deeply, our conversation to-day, and have come 
to the conclusion, if the plan suggested by you is 
the best to cut off a retreating enemy, which I do 
not myself see, but of which you know of course best, it 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. IO5 

is altogether un- naval for the capture of the batteries, 
and these have to be taken by the smaller vessels 
after you land, and whether you have succeeded or 
not in your object. 

The squadron of gunboats has to go two miles 
in a narrow channel under a raking fire from three 
or four batteries, without knowing how far Fort Clinch 
is armed. Surely, if I can turn these or pass them 
on their weak sides, I could hardly be justified in 
taking any other course. I therefore am of opin- 
ion the sound should be first attempted, and if our 
pilots are correct, we shall pass through with all but 
the Wabash and Susquehanna, and land you at Fer- 
nandina, independent of weather. On the coast the 
landing could not be effected if the weather was 
easterly. 

I shall hope to see you at Tybee or Wassaw. 
In the meantime I shall order my fleet to rendezvous 
at St. Andrew's. 

Yours most truly, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag OflBcer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 25th, 1862. 

To General T. W. Sherman, Commanding Expeditionary Corps, 
Tybee or Wassaw : 

General : — This northeast wind kills another day, 
but I think it is well the transports are not outside ; 
and in this weather all landing on the coast would be 
out of the question ; which reduces itself indeed to this, 
whether to wait here or at sea ; beside giving infor- 
mation so much the longer to the enemy. 



I06 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I thought I would send a vessel down with this, 
believing you would be glad to hear, and to know 
that we are only detained by the wind. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Tort Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 27th, 1862. 

To General T. W. Sherman, Commanding Expeditionary Corps, 
Tybee or Wassaw : 

General : — I have been much tried by the 
weather. The delay however brought my ammu- 
nition, but it was under hay and oats, and in spite of 
all I can do I have to leave my gunboats to receive 
it, who will follow, lest I miss the tide. 
In haste, yours most truly, 

S. F. Du Pont. 

' Flag Officer, etc. 

P. S. — I leave with the coming tide, and shall be 
off Wassaw to-night or to-morrow morning. 

S. F. D. P. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. lO/ 



MEMORANDUM. 

United States Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 27th, 1862. 

The flag ship and the other vessels of the fleet 
in this port will be off Tybee Entrance and Wassaw 
Sound to-night or to-morrow morning. 

Captain Drayton and Captain Gillis will please be 
on the lookout for signals, and be ready to leave port 
with the force under their command at a moment's 
notice, in compliance with previous orders. The Van- 
dalia will remain in Tybee Roads, and the Norwich, 
Wyandotte, and Release will remain in Wassaw Sound. 

No prescribed order of sailing for the fleet 
will be adopted until after leaving Wassaw, when the 
order will be conveyed by signal, if necessary. 

Captain Mather, of the Henry Andrews, who 
goes to Tybee and Wassaw for this purpose, will leave 
a copy of this memorandum with Captain Drayton and 
Captain Gillis. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 

P. S. — Captain Drayton will please take Acting 
Master Philemon Dickinson, now on board the Vandalia^ 
out of that ship, and retain him on board the Pawnee 
until we meet. 

S. F. D. P. 



I08 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

CIRCULAR. 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off St. Andrews, March ist, 1862. 

The order of steaming while entering St. Andrews 
and passing through Cumberland Sounds will be the 
line ahead, in the following succession: 

1 . Ottawa. 

2. Mohican, accompanied by Ellen. 

3. Seminole. 

4. Pawnee. 

5. Pocohontas. 

6. Flag. 

7. Florida. 

8. James Adger. 

9. Bienville. 

10. Alabama. 

11. Keystone State. 

12. Seneca. 

13. Huron. 

14. Pembina. 

15. Isaac Smith. 

16. Penguin. 

17. Potomska. 

18. McClellan. 

The special attention of the commanding officers 
is called to the following particulars : 

I St. The vessels will observe the closest order 
consistent with safety : 

[a) for mutual support. 

(/;) to take immediate advantage of the pilotage 
of the preceding vessels. 

2d. The vessels being in the closest order, the 
greatest caution will be observed in firing, to avoid 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. IO9 

injuring neighboring vessels by the blast of the gun, 
and fragments of the shots. 

3d. The utmost care will be taken to insure 
accuracy of fire, and avoid a useless expenditure of 
ammunition. 

4th. The armed launches and small armed steamer 
will be disposed of by special order. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



MEMORANDUM. 

March ist, 1862. 
(Probably the joint agreement of Admiral Du Pont and Gen. Sherman.) 

It is understood that the transports are to enter 
St. Andrew's preceded by the gunboats, and to proceed 
to the Cumberland Sound by the inland passage. Ar- 
riving near the southern extremity of Cumberland Island, 
a portion of the land force is to be landed in connection 
with the howitzers of the navy and a force of seamen, 
to carry the batteries at that point, and prevent the 
escape of their garrisons ; the gunboats previously to 
open fire on these batteries. At the same time the 
remainder of the fleet will attack the batteries on 
Amelia Island, and having silenced such of the guns 
as bear upon the Amelia river, or as soon as it may 
be safe to attempt the passage, the transports will pro- 
ceed to Fernandina, or its vicinity, and land the re- 
mainder of the troops^— a gunboat being promptly sent 
up the river to a point where her guns can control 
the railroad crossing and bridge. 

Should there prove to be a battery on McLure's 



no OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Hill, it will probably have to be silenced before the 
transports can effect a landing. 

After landing and getting possession of the town, 
further movements must depend on the strength and 
position of the enemy. 

Should the enemy succeed in effecting a retreat 
down Amelia Island before the troops can be landed, 
a naval force will be sent on the outside to intercept 
the retreat by firing across the island. 



Memorandum for Captain Lardner. 

Flag Ship Mohican, 
Cumberland Sound, March 2d, 1862. 

A contraband brings news that the enemy is 
abandoning Fernandina. Captain Lanier will give the 
particulars to Captain Lardner. 

The flag officer wishes Captain Lardner to cut off 
the retreat by sea, if any is attempted within his reach, 
and to command the southern end of Amelia 
Island with his guns, the railroad included, if possible, 
and to endeavor to ascertain if the guns have 
been withdrawn from the forts on the north end of 
Amelia Island ; or in other words, if the defences in 
Fernandina have been abandoned, and send him word. 
It is asserted that the guns are carried in a steamer 
through Nassau Sound, outside, into the St. John's. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. I 1 1 



Flag Ship Mohican, 
Cumberland Sound, March 2d, 1862. 



To Commander P. Drayton, 

United States Ship Pawnee : 

(Confidential.) 

Sir : — I have received information that the enemy- 
is now abandoning Fort Clinch, and the earthworks 
on Amelia Island and the south end of Cumberland 
Island, which are in fact the objects of this expedition. 

Instead therefore of waiting for daylight and the 
morning tide, which are necessary to the vessels of 
large draught, you will proceed in haste with the 
evening tide through Cumberland Sound into Fernan- 
dina harbor, and, taking possession, you will exert your- 
self to preserve public and private property, and to 
secure prisoners and munitions of war. 

A portion of the troops will accompany you in 
the steamers Boston and McClellan. Major Reynolds' 
brigade of marines is also on board the latter vessel. 
Under the orders of General Wright the town will 
be garrisoned, and the railroad seized and occupied by 
the soldiers and marines. 

I shall enter Fernandina on the morning tide 
through the main ship channel, with the remainder of 
the fleet. 

A threat has been made to poison the wells ; 
you will please make this known to prevent any injury 
from such an act of barbarism. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



1 1 2 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Mohican, 
Harbor of Fernandina, March 4th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I had the honor to inform you in my 
last dispatch that the expedition for Fernandina was 
equipped, and waiting only for suitable weather to sail 
from Port Royal. I have now the pleasure to inform 
you that I am in full possession of Cumberland Island 
and Sound, of Fernandina and Amelia Island, and of 
the river and town of St. Mary's. 

I sailed from Port Royal on the last day of 
February in the Wabash, and on the 2d inst. entered 
Cumberland Sound by St. Andrew's Inlet, in the Mo- 
hican, Commander S. W. Godon, on board of which I 
have hoisted my flag. The fleet comprised the follow- 
ing vessels, sailing in the order in which they are 
named : 

Ottawa, Mohican, accompanied by Ellen, Seminole, 
Pawnee, Pocahontas, Flag, Florida, James Adger, Bien- 
ville, Alabama, Keystone State, Seneca, Huron, Pembina, 
Isaac Smith, Penguin, Potomska, armed cutter Henrietta, 
and armed transport McClellan, tlie latter having on 
board the battalion of marines under the command of 
Major Reynolds, and the transports Empire City, 
Marion, Star of the South, Belvidere, Boston, and 
George's Creek, containing a brigade under the com- 
mand of Brigadier-General Wright. 

We came to anchor in Cumberland Sound at 10.30 
o'clock on the morning of the 2d, to make an exami- 
nation of the channel, and wait for the tide. 

Here I learned from a contraband, who had been 
picked up at sea by Commander Lanier, and from the 
neighboring residents on Cumberland Island, that the 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 



"3 



rebels had abandoned in haste the whole of the de- 
fences of Fernandina, and were even at that moment 
retreating from Amelia Island, carrying with them such 
of their munitions as their precipitate flight would 
allow. 

The object of carrying the whole fleet through 
Cumberland Sound was to turn the heavy works on 
the south end of Cumberland and the north end of 
Amelia Island; but on receiving this intelligence, I de- 
tached the gunboats and armed steamers of light draft 
from the main line, and placing them under the com- 
mand of Commander Percival Drayton, of the steam 
sloop Pawnee, I ordered him to push through the 
Sound with the utmost speed, to save public and pri- 
vate property from threatened destruction, to prevent 
poisoning the wells, and to put a stop to all those 
outrages by the perpetration of which the leaders in this 
nefarious war hope to deceive and exasperate the 
Southern people. 

In the meantime I went out of the sound and 
came by sea to the main entrance of this harbor. 

In consequence of bad weather I was unable to 
cross the bar till this morning. Commander Drayton, 
in the Pawnee, accompanied by Commander C. R. P. 
Rodgers, with the armed launches and cutters, and the 
small -arm companies from the Wabash, had arrived 
several hours before me. 

Immediately on his entering the harbor, Com- 
mander Drayton sent Lieutenant White, of the Ottawa, 
to hoist the flag on Fort Clinch, the first of the na- 
tional forts on which the ensign of the Union has re- 
sumed its proper place since the first proclamation of 
the President of the United States was issued. 



114 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

A few scattered musket shots were fired from the 
town by the flying enemy, when it was discovered 
that a railroad train was about to start. Commander 
Drayton, on board the Ottawa, Lieutenant Commanding 
Stevens, chased this train for two miles, and fired sev- 
eral shots at it, aiming at the locomotive, some of 
which took effect. 

It is reported that the Hon. David Yulee, late a 
Senator of the United States from the State of Florida, 
escaped from this train and took to the bush. 

Commander C. R. P. Rodgers, pushing ahead with 
the launches, captured the rebel steamer Darlington, 
containing military stores, army wagons, mules, forage, 
etc., and fortunately secured the draw-bridge, which was 
held during the night by the second launch of the 
Wabash. 

There were passengers, women and children, in the 
Darlington, and the brutal captain suffered her to be 
fired upon, and refused to hoist a white flag, not- 
withstanding the entreaties of the women. No one was 
injured. I send the captain of the steamer home a 
prisoner. His name is Jacob Brock ; he is a native 
of Vermont, but has been a resident of Florida for 
twenty-three years. 

The same night Commander C. R. P. Rodgers as- 
cended the St. Mary's with the Ottawa, and took pos- 
session of the town, driving out a picket of the enemy's 
cavalry. 

Early in the morning the town ot Fernandina was 
also occupied by a party of seamen and marines from 
Commander Drayton's command. In both places most 
of the inhabitants had fled, by order, it is said, of the 
rebel authorities. A company of seamen and marines, 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. II5 

under Lieutenant Miller, was sent from the Mohican to 
hold Fort Clinch. 

It is reported to me by Lieutenant Commanding 
Downes, of the Huron, that the whole structure of the 
railroad on the Fernandina side, including the swinging 
draw-bridge, is quite uninjured. The rebels have done 
some damage by fire to the trestle-work on the other 
side of the river, but I am not yet informed of its 
extent. Several locomotives, baggage cars, tenders, 
freight cars, and some other property, besides that found 
in the steamer Darlington, have been recovered. 

The whole number of guns discovered up to this 
time is thirteen, embracing heavy thirty-two pounders, 
eight-inch guns, and one eighty and one one-hundred- 
and-twenty-pounder rifled guns. 

The towns of St. Mary's and Fernandina are unin- 
jured. I visited the town. Fort Clinch, and the earth- 
works on the sea face of the island. It is impossible 
to look at these preparations for a vigorous defence 
without being surprised that they should have been 
voluntarily deserted. The batteries on the north and 
northeast shores are as complete as art can make 
them. Six are well concealed, are protected by ranges 
of sand-hills in front, contain perfect shelter for the 
men, and are so small and thoroughly covered by the 
natural growth and by the varied contours of the 
land, that to strike them from the water would be the 
mere result of chance. A battery of six guns, though 
larger and affording therefore a better mark, is equally 
well sheltered and masked. 

These batteries, and the heavy guns mounted on 
Fort Clinch, command all the turnings of the main 
ship channel, and rake an approaching enemy. Besides 
these there was another battery of four guns on the 



Il6 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

south end of Cumberland Island, the fire of which would 
cross the channel inside the bar. 

The difficulties arising from the indirectness of 
the channel and from the shoalness of the bar would 
have added to the defences by keeping the approaching 
vessels a long time exposed to fire under great dis- 
advantages ; and when the ships of an enemy had 
passed all these defences they would have to encounter 
a well-constructed and naturally-masked battery at the 
town, which commands the access to the inner anchor- 
age. We are told that General Lee pronounced the 
place perfectly defensible. We are not surprised at this, 
if true. 

We captured Port Royal, but Fernandina and 
Fort Clinch have been given to us. 

We had in the expedition Mr. W. H. Dennis, 
an assistant in the Coast Survey, who possessed accurate 
local knowledge of a part of the ground we passed 
over, of which indeed he had made the topographical 
map, under the direction of the superintendent. He 
was zealous and active, and it gives me pleasure to 
mention him. 

The Empire City, on board of which was General 
Wright, grounded on the bar. As soon as he arrived 
(in another steamer), immediate steps were taken to 
transfer to him the forts, and all authority and pos- 
session on the land. 

I desire to speak here of the harmonious counsels 
and cordial co-operation which have marked through- 
out my intercourse with this able officer. Our 
plans of action have been matured by mutual consul- 
tation, and have been carried into execution by mutual 
help. 

I take great pleasure in reminding the Depart- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. I17 

merit that one principal and ultimate object of the 
naval expedition which I have the honor to command 
was, in its first conception, to take and keep under 
control the whole line of the sea - coast of Georgia ; 
knowing (to use the language of the original paper) 
" that the naval power that controls the sea-coast of 
Georgia, controls the State of Georgia." 

The report that the fortifications at St. Simon's, 
armed with heavy columbiads, had been abandoned, 
which first reached me at Port Royal, is confirmed. 
This being the case, the entire sea-coast of Georgia 
is now either actually in my possession, or under my 
control ; and thus the views of the Government have 
been accomplished. 

Very respectfully, your most obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



. Flag Ship Mohican, 

Fernandina, Fla., March 5th, 1862. 

To Commander S. W. Godon, 

U. S. S. Mohican : 

Sir: — Before leaving Port Royal information reached 
me that the preparations of this expedition had caused 
the abandonment of the fort at St. Simon's Island, a 
very strong work, and that thirty cannon had been 
taken to Savannah. 

This has been confirmed by two sources since. 
You will therefore proceed with the Mohican, under 
your command, taking with you the James Adger, 
Commander Marchand, and Potomska, Lieutenant Com- 
manding Watmough, to St. Simon's Sound and Bruns- 



I 1 8 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

wick, approaching with proper caution to ascertain the 
correctness of the above reports. 

You will recover the lenses belonging to the 
light -house of Little Cumberland Island and St. Si- 
mon's, said to be in store at Brunswick. 

After having ascertained the true condition of 
things at Brunswick, you will dispatch the James 
Adger to report to me at Port Royal. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ORDER. 

Dungeness House, March 6th, 1862. 

This property, belonging originally to General 
Nathaniel Greene, a Revolutionary hero, and a native 
of Rhode Island, is now the property of his grandson, 
Mr. Nightingale. It is now ordered and enjoined upon 
all who may visit this place, to hold every thing 
about the premises sacred ; and in no case to disturb or 
take away any aj'ticle zvithoiit a special order front 
Commodore Du Pont, or General Wright. 

John Rodgers, 

Commander, U. S. N. 

Charles Steedman, 

Commander, U. S. N. 
March 8th, 1862. 

Approved. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. I 1 9 



F"lag Ship Pawnee, 
Fernandina Harbor, March 7th, 1862. 



To Captain J. L. Lardnkr, U. S. S. Susquehanna, 
Oft" Fernandina : 

Sir: — On the receipt of this order, without waiting 
for the mails, you will please proceed to Port Royal. 

If everything is quiet there, and you find you can 
be spared, I wish you to take charge of the blockade 
off Charleston, embracing Stono, Bull's Bay, and George- 
town. 

I consider it of the utmost importance that the 
blockade should be vigorously maintained, and I will 
send you as many vessels as can be spared. 

The James Adger proceeds to-day to Charleston, 
and the Bienville will follow to-morrow, stopping how- 
ever at Port Royal. 

Please to retain the Augusta, Sumter, and other 
vessels now in that station, until they can be re- 
lieved, unless there should be an absolute necessity 
to send any of them to Port Royal. 

Do not send any mails from Port Royal south, 
for any vessels except the Pawnee, Florida, and the 
four regular gunboats. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Hag Officer. 



1 20 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Pawnee, 
Fernandina Harbor, March 7th, 1862. 

To Lieutenant Commanding Stevens, 
U. S. Gunboat Ottawa: 

Sir : — I desire that the St. John's river should be 
examined as far as Jacksonville ; and I send all the 
light- draft vessels which can possibly, by my informa- 
tion, cross the bar of St. John's. I consider it a re- 
connoissance in force, not knowing whether any bat- 
teries have been erected since the evacuation of Fer- 
nandina, and I wish you to penetrate, under a sound 
discretion, as far as Jacksonville. 

I have requested Brigadier-General Wright to send 
a battalion of troops in a light -draft transport, to ac- 
company the expedition; and have desired him to di- 
rect the commanding officer to put himself in official 
relations with you. These troops may be of service 
in holding, temporarily, points after you pass, or more 
particularly to enable you to examine the condition of 
things in Jacksonville, taking any public property that 
may be there, destroying such as you may not be able 
to carry off that may be of military importance to the 
rebels, but respecting to the utmost private property. 
It is impossible for me to go further into details with 
my present knowledge; but I rely upon your judg- 
ment and discretion to carry out effectively the general 
objects of the expedition. It is not my intention to 
occupy any point on St. John's river, and I expect the 
troops to return with you. 

If the blockade of St. John's can be maintained 
inside the bar sufficiently by one vessel, you will leave 
on your return the Isaac Smith ; giving Lieutenant 
Commanding Nicholson the command in that river, to 
report as opportunity may offer to Commander Dray- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 121 

ton, at Fernandina, who is the senior officer on the 
coast of Florida, and the adjacent coast and waters of 
Georgia up to St. Simon's. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off St. John's, March 9th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

(Unofficial.) 

My Dear Sir : — I sent an official dispatch dated 
the 4th inst. to the Department, detailing events up to 
that time. The gunboat Ottawa on the same day- 
ascended the St. Mary's river, about fifty miles above 
its mouth, without meeting any resistance. On her 
return, however, she was fired upon repeatedly by 
riflemen on the shore, whereby four of her men were 
wounded. She replied with grape and canister, killing 
and wounding a number of the enemy. 

Fernandina is entirely in the possession of the 
army ; and St. Mary's is commanded by the Penguin, 
rendering resistance on the part of the rebels useless. 

I dispatched yesterday the gunboats Ottawa, Sen- 
eca, Pembina, Huron, and the steamers Isaac Smith 
and Ellen, to St. John's river, with directions to pro- 
ceed up that river as far as Jacksonville, to which 
point it is said the enemy has retreated. 

I intend also to send a vessel or two to St. Augus- 
tine, where, according to reliable information, there is 
but a small force of the enemy, who are not anxious 
to fight against us. 



122 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

As soon as I can give the results of these expe- 
ditions, I will write to the Department in full ; though 
I may say in confidence that I have no doubt we 
have entire possession of the whole coast of Florida, 
as well as that of Georgia. 

Respectfully and truly yours, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 

P. S. — I have just communicated with the gun- 
boats. Lieutenant Commanding Stevens reports three 
batteries at the mouth of the St. John's river, with 
guns in them, deserted. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off St. Augustine, Florida, March 13th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — In my dispatch of the 4th inst., I had the 
honor to inform the Department of the fall of Bruns- 
wick, Georgia, the capture of Fernandina, Florida, of 
the town of St. Mary's, and the river of that name, 
one of the boundaries between these States ; Cumber- 
land Island and Sound ; in short, the coast and inland 
waters from St. Simon's southward. 

I send herewith interesting reports from Commander 
Percival Drayton, and Commander C. R. P. Rodgers, 
detailing the circumstances attending the capture of 
Fernandina and St. Mary's ; and also an interesting ex- 
tract from the report of Lieutenant Commanding T. H. 
Stevens, of a reconnoissance in the Ottawa, up the 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 23 

river St. Mary's for fifty miles, which report had not 
reached me when my dispatch was sent. 

Having on the 7th dispatched a division of my 
force to hold Brunswick, consisting of the Mohican, 
Pocahontas, and Potomska, under Commander Godon, I 
shifted my flag from the first -named vessel to the 
Pawnee, and organized another squadron of light vessels, 
embracing the four regular gunboats, Ottawa, Seneca, 
Pembina, and Huron, with the Isaac Smith and Ellen, 
under Lieutenant Commanding T, H. Stevens, to proceed 
without delay to the mouth of St. John's river ; cross, 
if possible, its difficult and shallow bar, feel the forts if 
still held, and push on to Jacksonville ; indeed, to go 
as far as Palatka, eighty miles beyond, to reconnoitre, 
and capture river steamers. 

This expedition was to be accompanied by the 
armed launches and cutters of the Wabash, under 
Lieutenants Irwin and Barnes, and by a light-draft 
transport with the Seventh New Hampshire regiment. 

After arranging with Brigadier-General Wright our 
joint occupation of the Florida and Georgia coasts, 
including protection from injury to the mansion and 
grounds of Dungeness, on Cumberland Island, originally 
the property of the Revolutionary patriot and hero, 
General Greene, and still owned by his descendants, 
and leaving Commander Percival Drayton in charge of 
the naval force, I repaired to this ship, waiting for me 
off Fernandina, and proceeded with her off St. John's, 
arriving there on the 9th. 

The gunboats had not yet been able to cross the 
bar, but expected to do so the next day ; the Ellen 
only getting in that evening. As at Nassau, which 
was visited by Lieutenant Commanding T. H. Stevens, 
on his way down, the forts seemed abandoned. There 



124 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

being no probability that the Huron could enter, I 
dispatched her ofif St. Augustine, where I joined her, 
arriving here on the nth. I immediately sent on shore 
Commander C. R. P. Rodgers, with a flag of truce, 
having reason to believe that if there were any people 
on this coast likely to remain in their homes, it 
would be at St. Augustine. 

I enclose Commander Rodgers's most interesting 
report, which I am sure the Department will read 
with satisfaction. 

The American flag is flying once more over that 
old city ; raised by the hands of its own people, who 
resisted the appeals, threats, and falsehoods of their 
leaders, though compelled to witness the carrying off 
their sons in the ranks of the flying enemy. 

This gives us possession of a second national fort 
of strength and importance. 

Since writing the above I have received by the 
Isaac Smith the enclosed printed slip and report from 
Lieutenant Commanding Stevens, of his operations in 
the St. John's river, giving details of great interest. 

From Lieutenant Commanding Nicholson, I learn 
with regret of the acts of vandalism on the part 
of the rebel commanders (not the people), in setting 
fire to vast quantities of lumber and the saw-mills in 
that region, owned by Northern men, supposed to have 
Union sympathies. 

The Isaac Smith has arrived opportunely, as that 
vessel can get into St. Augustine, while it was doubt- 
ful whether the Huron could enter. 

The latter I am sending to Fernandina, with dis- 
patches to Brigadier-General Wright. 

In ail this varied and difficult service, having to 
contend with surf- shores, dangerous bars, and inland 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 125 

navigation in an enemy's country, I think it due to 
the officers and men under my command to say that they 
have on all occasions displayed great spirit and ability, 
fully coming up to my requirements and expectations. 
Very respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off St. Augustine, Florida, March 14th, 1862. 

To Lieutenant Commanding J. W. A. Nicholson, 
U. S. S. Isaac Smith, off St. Augustine : 

Sir: — So soon as the Isaac Smith can pass the 
bar, you will proceed to St. Augustine, and hold that 
harbor and city in the name of the United States 
Government. 

The people remaining, some four-fifths of the pop- 
ulation, are friendly or neutral, with probably some 
portion hostile to the Union. 

You will guard the town from incendiaries, give 
protection to the inhabitants, and let them understand 
that while restoring the authority of the United States, 
their persons and property will be respected, and that 
a municipal government, established by them according 
to our Federal forms, will be recognized by you. 

Major Doughty will land with the Marine Guard 
of the Wabash, and with the company of the 7th New 

Hampshire Regiment under Captain , now on 

board your vessel. You will see to their proper loca- 
tion, and give them all the assistance in your power. 

Major Doughty will be senior officer on shore. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



126 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off St. Augustine, Florida, March 15th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — Yesterday I forwarded an interesting dis- 
patch to the Department by the Huron to Fernandina, 
with orders to send it by the first opportunity North. 

The Rhode Island arrived here early this morning, 
and I have directed Lieutenant Commanding Trenchard 
to stop off Fernandina and take on board the mails. 
As he has no provisions to deliver, he will proceed 
North without stopping at Port Royal ; communicating 
however with the light -boat at the bar. 

The troops will be landed at St. Augustine to- 
day, to protect the town from being fired by the rebel 
soldiers, who are supposed to be still concealed in the 
adjacent country. 

Further information from the St. John's river is 
satisfactory. The burning of the valuable mills and 
timber, with the fine hotel at Jacksonville, and the 
house of Mr. Robinson, a Union man, was by order 
of the rebel General, Trapler ; who, after ingloriously 
flying with his forces from the town with very con- 
siderable means of defence at hand, sent a large de- 
tachment back for this incendiary purpose, on discov- 
ering that our gunboats had not been able on their 
first arrival to cross the bar. 

Very respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 12/ 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off St. John's, Florida, March 19th, 1862. 

To Acting Master S. W. Mather, U. S. S. Henry Andrews, 
Off St. John's: 

Sir : — You will please proceed with the Henry- 
Andrews, under your command, off Mosquito Inlet, and 
report for duty to Acting-Lieutenant Commanding 
Budd, of the Penguin. 

As far as possible I desire that the channel should 
be buoyed, and that reconnoissance be first made in 
boats, and if satisfactory, that the Henry Andrews shall 
cross the bar and blockade the inlet and Smyrna, 
from a suitable position. 

The latest information from Smyrna is that a small 
fort of three guns has been abandoned. Mosquito In- 
let has been much resorted to for the introduction of 
arms in small vessels, transhipped from English sailing 
vessels and steamers at Nassau. I am told that the 
" Caroline" or " Kate" has recently been there ; whether 
she has left, you will of course ascertain, and if not, 
capture her and any other vessels there. 

The accompanying letter contains information of 
importance in reference to large quantities of live-oak 
cut and prepared for shipment, but abandoned at the 
time of the breaking out of this rebellion. You will 
take possession of the same in the name of the Govern- 
ment, and I will endeavor to send at an early day 
a sufficient number of light- draft vessels to receive 
it, and transport it to the North. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



128 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off St. John's, Florida, March 19th, 1862. 

To Acting-Lieutenant T. H. Budd, Commanding U. S. S. Penguin, 
Off Mosquito Inlet : 

Sir :1 — I send the Henry Andrews, Acting-Master 
Mather commanding, to report to you for duty. 

You will please as far as you can, buoy out the 
channel and make reconnoissances in boats to ascer- 
tain the depth of water ; and, if satisfactory, direct the 
Henry Andrews to cross the bar and blockade the 
inlet and Smyrna, 

If the rebel steamer " Caroline" or " Kate " has not 
left the inlet, capture her and all the other vessels 
found there. 

From a copy of a communication which I have 

furnished Acting - Master Mather, you will perceive that 

there is said to be large quantities of live-oak timber, 

ready cut, inside of Mosquito Inlet. If this be so, I 

desire that the same should be taken possession of 

in the name of the Government, and so held until I 

can send some light - draft vessels to transport it to 

the North. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off St. John's, Florida, March 19th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I had the honor to inform the Department, 
in my communication of the 13th inst., that I had 
dispatched a division of my force to Brunswick under 
Commander S. W. Godon, consisting of the Mohican, 
Pocahontas, and the Potomska. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. I 29 

These vessels crossed St. Simon's bar on the 8th 
inst, and anchored at sundown within two miles of the 
forts commanding the channel. 

On the following morning, Commander Godon, 
with his division, moved past the batteries, which he 
soon discovered had been abandoned, and immediately 
sent Lieutenant Commanding Balch with three armed 
boats to take possession of the batteries on St. Si- 
mon's Island ; and Lieutenant Henry Miller, of the 
Mohican, with a suitable force, to take possession of 
the works on Jekyl Island. 

On St. Simon's Island were two batteries, con- 
sisting of strong earth-works, and so arranged as to 
command the approach to St. Simon's Sound. There 
were twelve embrasures and numerous well -con- 
structed magazines. No guns were mounted, but a 
ten-inch solid shot found near indicated the calibre 
of some of them. 

On Jekyl Island were also two batteries, of much 
greater strength, however ; one, furthest seaward and 
commanding the main channel, was a bomb-proof work, 
constructed of palmetto logs, sand bags, and railroad 
iron ; well supported, and braced from the interior with 
massive timbers. It had mounted three case-mated 
guns, though these, their carriages, and all ammunition, 
had been removed. The other battery, five hundred 
yards landward, consisted of two casemates, and an 
earthwork capable of mounting four guns in barbette. 
A magazine and a hot-shot furnace were attached. 

Both Simon's and Jekyl Islands had been deserted. 

After examining the batteries, the vessels passed 
up the sound to Brunswick, and anchored off the 
town. A fire was observed near the wharf, which 



130 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

proved to be the railroad depot and wharf, the work 
of retiring soldiers. Lieutenant Commanding Balch, 
with a large force, covered by the guns of the Po- 
tomska, landed at Brunswick without any show of op- 
position, and hoisted the American flag on the Ogle- 
thorpe House. 

The town was entirely deserted : and nearly all 
property which could be removed had been taken 
away. The lenses belonging to the light -house at St. 
Andrew's and the light -house at St. Simon's (the lat- 
ter building having been destroyed by the rebels), could 
not, after careful search, be discovered. The channel 
buoys for the river are still there, but out of place. 

Proclamations were posted on several public build- 
ings, urging the inhabitants to return to their homes, 
and promising protection to the property of all good 
citizens, and the party then returned to their vessels. 
Nothing was removed from any of the houses ; the 
men under Lieutenant Balch's command carefully ab- 
staining from injuring or taking away the private ef- 
fects of the inhabitants. I enclose a copy of Com- 
mander Godon's interesting report. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off Mosquito Inlet, Florida, March 24th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have to report to the Department some 
casualties that have occurred to officers and men be- 
longing to two of the vessels of my fleet ; casualties 
as painful as they were unexpected ; but the loss of 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. I3I 

gallant lives has expiated the error of judgment which 
enthusiastic zeal had induced. 

The Department was informed, after the capture of 
Fernandina, that so soon as I should take possession 
of Jacksonville and St. Augustine, I would give my 
attention to Mosquito Inlet, fifty miles south of the 
latter, which, according to my information, was resorted 
to for the introduction of arms transhipped from 
English ships and steamers, at the British colony of 
Nassau, into small vessels of light draft. 

I accordingly ordered the Penguin, Acting Lieu- 
tenant Commanding T. A. Budd, and the Henry An- 
drews, Acting Master S. W. Mather, to proceed to this 
place, the latter to cross the bar, establish an inside 
blockade, capture any rebel vessels there, and guard 
from incendiarism large quantities of live-oak timber 
on the Government lands, cut and ready for shipment, 
to which the Department had called my attention. 

On reaching here myself, on the 22d, I was 
boarded by the executive officer of the Penguin, and 
informed that Lieutenant Commanding Budd, with 
Acting Master Mather, had organized an expedition 
from the two vessels, and had moved southward through 
the inland passage leading into Mosquito Lagoon, 
passing Smyrna with four or five light boats, carrying 
in all some forty -three men. 

Soon after this report, which I heard with anxiety, 
the results were developed. It appears that after going 
some fifteen or eighteen miles without any incident, 
and while on their return and in sight of the Henry 
Andrews, the order of the line being no longer ob- 
served, the two commanding officers, quite in advance, 
landed under certain earthworks which had been 
abandoned or never armed, near a dense grove of live- 



132 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

oak, with underbrush. A heavy and continuous fire 
was unexpectedly opened upon them from both these 
covers. Lieutenant Commanding Budd and Acting 
Master Mather, with three of the five men composing 
the boat's crew, were killed ; the remaining two were 
wounded and made prisoners. 

As the boats came up they were also fired into, 
and suffered more or less ; the rear boat of all had a 
howitzer, which however could not be properly se- 
cured or worked, — the boat not being fitted for the 
purpose, — and could therefore be of littk use. The 
men had to seek cover on shore, but as soon as 
it was dark, Acting Master's Mate Mcintosh returned 
to the boats, brought away the body of one of 
the crew who had been killed, all the arms, ammu- 
nition, and flags, threw the howitzer into the river, 
passed close to the rebel pickets, who hailed but 
elicited no reply, and arrived safely on board the 
Henry Andrews, 

• On hearing of this untoward event I directed Com- 
mander Rodgers to send off the launch and cutters of 
this ship, under Lieutenant Barnes, to the support of 
the Andrews. The boats crossed the bar at midnight, 
and the next morning the vessel was hauled close up 
to the scene of the late attack, but no enemy could 
be discovered. 

The bodies of Lieutenant Budd and Acting Master 
Mather were received under a flag of truce, and the 
commanding officer, a Captain Bird, who had come 
from a camp at a distance, made some show of cour- 
tesy by returning papers and a watch, as if ashamed 
of this mode of warfare ; for these were the troops 
that, with sufficient force, means, and materials for a 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. I 33 

respectable defence, had ingloriously fled from St. Au- 
gustine on our approach. 

I enclose a copy of my instructions to Acting 
Lieutenant Budd, the original of which was found on 
his person, and was one of the papers returned by the 
rebel officer. 

Lieutenant Commanding Budd and Acting Master 
Mather were brave and devoted officers. The former 
commanded the Penguin in the action of the 7th of 
November, and received my commendation. The latter, 
in the prime of life, was a man of uncommon energy 
and daring ; had no superior, probably, among the pa- 
triotic men who have been appointed in the navy from 
the mercantile marine. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off St. Augustine, Florida, March 25th, 1862. 

To G. A. Pacetti, Mayor; Cristobal Bravo, Mathias 
Leonardi, John S. Masters, Emanuel J. De 
Medices, Aldermen; Mathew Solano, B. E. 
Carr, George Burt, David R. Dunham, C. M. 
Bravo, Nicholas Rogero : 

Gentlemen: — It gives me pleasure to acknowledge 
the receipt of your courteous and agreeable note of 
to-day, in which you speak in most kindly and com- 
plimentary terms of Major Isaac T. Doughty, the com- 
mander of marines on shore. 

I will transmit to him the expressions of your 
regard and appreciation. 

In reference to your application that the Marine 



134 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Guard, under Major Reynolds, should be stationed 
within your city, equally complimentary, I have to say 
that the disposition of forces on land belongs to the 
military commander of this Department, Brigadier- 
General Sherman. 

Lieutenant Commanding Nicholson, of the United 
States ship Isaac Smith, will represent my authority 
in the waters in and around St. Augustine ; and I 
am convinced that within his province he will aid in 
every way in his power, not only to promote the 
security of the city, but to contribute, in conjunction 
with you, gentlemen, to its welfare in every manner. 

I beg you, gentlemen, to receive the assurance of 
my regard and sympathy ; and to accept this acknowl- 
edgment and appreciation of the position which you 
have assumed in the embarrassing circumstances sur- 
rounding you. 

I remain, with great respect and consideration, 
your most obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off St. John's, Florida, March 20, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have to inform the Department that I 
have heard from Commander Godon of a dastardly and 
concealed attack made upon a boat's crew of the Po- 
cahontas. 

As I have informed the Department, Lieutenant 
Commanding Balch visited the town of Brunswick with- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 35 

out anywhere discovering an enemy. A reconnoissance 
had also been made for some miles up Turtle Creek, 
with the same results ; the rebels having apparently 
fled into the interior. 

On the afternoon of the nth, Assistant Surgeon 
A. C. Rhoads, of the Pocahontas, by permission of his 
commanding officer, landed with a boat's crew near 
the town, for the purpose of procuring some fresh beef 
for the ship. Having accomplished his object, the 
boat was returning to the Pocahontas, but had scarcely 
gone twenty yards from the beach when they were 
suddenly fired upon by a body of rebels concealed 
in a thicket, and I regret to report that two men, 
John Wilson (O. S.), and John Shuter (O. S.), were 
instantly killed, and seven wounded ; one, William De- 
laney (O. S.), mortally, and two seriously, viz., William 
Smith (2d first-class fireman), and Edward Bonsall, cox- 
swain. 

After the rebels had fired their first volley they 
called out, in most offensive language, to surrender ; 
but this demand was refused by Dr. Rhoads, who, 
with the assistance of Acting Paymaster Kitchen, and 
his wounded boat's crew, pulled as rapidly as he could 
toward the Pocahontas, the enemy continuing their 
fire. 

In a few minutes a shell from one of the eleven- 
inch guns of the Mohican dropped among them, and 
quite near to another company of about sixty men, 
which was advancing rapidly. The rebels scattered and 
fled in all directions. Several shells were also fired at 
a locomotive and train observed in the distance, and 
it is supposed with efiect. 

Throughout this cowardly assault Dr. Rhoads dis- 
played great coolness and courage, and in his report 



136 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

of the occurrence, whilst commending the crew gene- 
rally, he especially mentions the bravery exhibited by 
Daniel Harrington (landsman), into which I shall make 
further inquiry. 

Enclosed are the reports of Commander Godon, 
Lieutenant Commanding Balch, and Assistant Surgeon 
Rhoads. 

I am, sir, very respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off St. John's, Florida, March 21st, 1862. 

To Hon. William Marvin, 

Judge United States District Court : 

My Dear Judge: — I have just communicated with 
General Sherman on his return from Jacksonville, 

A meeting was called there last night, by the 
citizens, and the strongest Union resolutions passed, ex- 
pressing the determination of the people of Florida to 
be a part of the Union, and condemning the Confed- 
erate State Government as never having been approved 
by the people of Florida. 

The steamer Jackson hove in sight as I received 
this intelligence from General Sherman ; and thinking 
it might be agreeable to you to receive the informa- 
mation, I send these few lines. Another regiment will 
be sent to Jacksonville to-morrow. 

The gunboats have been up the St. John's a second 
time ; finding the steamer St. Mary's and yacht America 
at Haw Creek, at the head of Dunn Lake. They 
had both been sunk by the rebels, but can be raised 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 37 

with ease. It seems the yacht was purchased to send 
to England, with Messrs. Mason and Slidcll. 

We have no later news from the North than what 
will be given you by Captain Woodhuil, who passed 
yesterday. If what he heard be true, as believed at 
Jacksonville, that Pensacola has been abandoned, it 
would indicate a combination of all the rebel forces at 
some fitting point at which to make a great and final 
struggle, staking the whole issue on the result. 

The sudden and unexpected victories in the West 
have produced this marvellous change in their policy 
and arrogance. A Charleston paper of the 13th inst. 
tries to allay the extreme panic produced in that city 
by the evacuation of Manassas, in a brief paragraph ; 
which, however, in itself clearly shows the consterna- 
tion prevailing there in consequence of this unexpected 
intelligence. I shall squeeze them soon from Edisto, 
my gunboats having already been up to Legare's 
plantation. 

If Commodore McKean should be at Key West, 
give my warmest regards to him. 

With great regard, yours most truly, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal, S. C, March 28th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — Since my dispatch of the 19th inst., I have 
received another interesting report from Commander 
S. W. Godon, giving the details of a reconnoissance by 
the inland passage from Brunswick to Darien, a copy 
of which I enclose. 



138 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Commander Godon, with the Pocahontas, Lieutenant 
Commanding Balch, and the Potomska, Acting Lieu- 
tenant Commanding Watmough, with the launch and 
howitzer of the Mohican, in charge of Lieutenant Miller, 
proceeded to open the interior communication between 
St. Simon's Sound and the Altamaha river. He soon 
encountered an obstruction, consisting of a double row 
of heavy piles, with their tops just above water at 
low tide. In a if^ hours a sufficient number were 
removed, and the Pocahontas and Potomska passed 
through, but had advanced only five miles further when 
another obstruction of the same kind was met with. 
After an unavoidable delay, owing to the rising of 
the tide, this also was removed, and both vessels en- 
tered the Altamaha. As they turned into the river, 
two rebel steamers were seen moving off from the 
wharf at Darien with full head of steam, rendering 
pursuit useless, particularly as the brasses of the 
Potomska's shaft-bearing had broken, in a measure 
disabling that vessel. 

Commander Godon learned from some contrabands 
who came off from shore, that Darien, like Brunswick, 
was deserted ; a company of horsemen only remaining 
in the town, with the intention of firing the place 
should the steamers approach it. 

Owing to the crippled condition of the Potomska, 
Commander Godon did not deem it advisable to push 
his reconnoissance further; and, accordingly, returned 
through the passage that he had cleared to his an- 
chorage at Brunswick. He visited a number of plan- 
tations on St. Simon's Island. With but one excep- 
tion, all were deserted, though some time previously 
fifteen hundred troops had been quartered there. 

Commander Godon speaks in warm terms of 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 39 

Lieutenant Commanding Balch, and Acting Lieutenant 
Commanding Watmough, as well as of the officers and 
crew of the vessels under his command, in which I 
heartily concur; adding to these, however, commenda- 
tion of the zeal and ability of Commander Godon 
himself, in carrying out my views in reference to our 
occupation of this important section of the coast of 
Georgia. 

I am, sir, very respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off Port Royal, S. C, March 28th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — On being boarded this afternoon, while en- 
tering Port Royal Harbor, by Commander Gillis, of the 
Seminole, I had the satisfaction to learn that formida- 
ble batteries at Skiddway and Green Island had been 
abandoned by the rebels ; the guns having been with- 
drawn in order to be placed nearer Savannah. 

The abandonment of these batteries gives us com- 
plete control of Wassaw and Ossebaw Sounds, and 
the mouths of Vernon and Wilmington rivers, which 
form important approaches to that city. 

I enclose the report of Commander Gillis, and also 
a memorandum of information given by a contraband, 
which may be of some interest to the Department. 

I am, sir, very respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



140 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off St. John's, Florida, March 21st, 1862. 

To Lieutenant Commanding T. H. Stevens, United States 

Gunboat Ottawa, Senior Officer in the St. 

John's River, Florida: 

Sir: — Your several interesting communications, de- 
tailing events in the St. John's river, have been duly re- 
ceived; the first one, dated the 13th, just before my last 
dispatch to the Department ; and I had the pleasure of for- 
warding it to the Honorable the Secretary of the Navy. 

The success of the expedition under your com- 
mand has exceeded my expectations ; and I cordially 
approve of every step you have taken in carrying out 
my general order; and trust with you that mild yet 
firm measures will result in detaching Florida from this 
causeless and wicked rebellion. 

General Sherman has determined to send another 
regiment to Jacksonville, which in all probability has 
already arrived there. 

I hope you will be successful in raising the sunken 
steamer St. Mary's and the yacht America. 

Your reconnoissance, already so well pushed for- 
ward, will enable you to express an opinion as to the 
amount of force you will require for the proper protec- 
tion of St. John's river, and moral support to the 
inhabitants by your presence. 

The Ellen, you are aware, is almost broken down ; 
if you can have her repaired at Jacksonville, do so ; 
if not, she must be sent to Port Royal. I will see 
to your receiving coal, provisions, and stores, and to 
the forwarding of your mails with all the punctuality 
I can command. 

Respectfully, etc. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. I4I 

• Flag Ship Wabash, 

Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March 28th, 1862. 

To Brigadier-General T. W. Sherman, Commanding Expeditionary 
Corps, Hilton Head: 

General: — I returned to this harbor last evening, 
and your letter to the commanding naval officer has 
just been brought to me. 

Should there be any truth in the report of iron- 
clad vessels, of which I do not believe a single word, 
the small tugs and launches would be of little avail. 

I must dispatch the Susquehanna and Keystone 
State on important duty to-morrow ; and find it neces- 
sary to withdraw the boats of the one, and a portion 
of the crew of the other, before I could do it. ' 

I have written already to withdraw several light- 
draft vessels now co-operating With the army at Fer- 
nandina, and on the St. John's river. 

General, whenever and wherever I can further your 
operations and plans, I shall ever be ready ; but you 
must allow me to say that I never expected that a 
naval force could be required to protect the batteries 
on Venus Point and Bird Island, after they were com- 
pleted ; and, if this be necessary, and General Viele 
or yourself put any credit in the reports alluded to, 
the sooner these batteries are strengthened the better. 
I learn my gunboats are aground nearly the whole of 
the twenty-four hours. Under such circumstances I am 
not satisfied that is not my duty to withdraw every 
one of them. 

One of the tugs I require for squadron duty ; the 
other, so soon as watered, will return to-morrow. 

I am, General, with great respect, your obedient 
servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



142 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March 29th, 1862. 

To Brigadier-General T. W. Sherman, Commanding Expedi- 
tionary Corps, Hilton Head, S. C. : 

General: — I have just received copies of a letter 
from Lieutenant Commanding Collins to Captain Lebe- 
navv, Assistant Adjutant -General at Daufuski, reporting 
the appearance of an iron -clad vessel under Fort 
Jackson ; also the copy of a letter from General Viele 
to you. 

Just before receiving these, Captain Hamilton called 
upon me, in your name, to ask that the two tugs, 
Pettit and Mercury, should go into the Savannah river 
to give protection to the sinking there of certain hulks. 

I yielded to this request; but I do not see how 
two small tugs, not intended for offensive purposes, can 
give protection against Commodore Tatnall's steamers, 
whether there be an iron -clad vessel or not; and the 
larger gunboats would in all probability run aground. 
I will, however, place these tugs at the disposition of 
General Viele, who will, I presume, see that they are 
not improperly hazarded. 

In reference to General Viele's letter to you, ex- 
pressing the opinion that unless the channel is closed 
at once by hulks, or otherwise, the navy will lose the 
greater part of the blockading fleet, I do not under- 
stand whether the General alludes to the blockading 
fleet on the coast, generally, or to that portion of it 
stationed in and near Wall's Cut. 

The naval blockade of Savannah river is estab- 
lished at Tybee Roads ; the vessels in Wright and 
Mud rivers are there at your request, to assist the 
batteries, as I understand it ; having them there, formed 
no part of a plan of mine. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 43 

Will you do me the favor, General, to write me 
what your wishes are on the subject ? 

I am. General, respectfully and truly your obedient 
servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April ist, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — During a recent cruise in this ship on the 
coast, extending as far south as Mosquito Inlet, east 
Florida, I have endeavored to ascertain the condition of 
the light -houses as left by the rebels, believing such 
information would be of interest to the Light -House 
Board. 

1st. The tower at Cape Roman is standing, but 
the lantern and iron railing at the top were all broken, 
and the apparatus itself ruthlessly destroyed ; the block- 
ading officer, who landed under it, having picked up 
the prisms. 

2d. The structure at Bull's Bay seems to have 
been treated in the same way, everything being reck- 
lessly broken, down to the oil cans, etc. 

3d. At Charleston, the tower was blown up last 
winter. 

4th. At St. Helena, the tower was likewise blown 
up, immediately after our occupation here. Portions of 
the lens were recovered and sent North. 

5th. At Tybee, the Board is aware that the tower 
is standing, but the interior was burned, and the Ian- 



144 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

tern much injured. It is presumed the lens was taken 
to Savannah. 

6th. At Little Cumberland, the tower and lantern 
are injured ; the lens, with that of St. Simon's, was 
carefully packed and sent to Brunswick, but the com- 
manding officer there. Commander Godon, has not been 
able to find them in the store indicated by the light- 
house keeper at Little Cumberland. 

7th. The tower and lantern at Fernandina remain 
in good order, but the lens has not been recovered. 
It is said to have been taken to Tallahassee. 

8th. At the mouth of the St. John's, both the new 
and the old tower are standing, the new one in good 
order. The officer holding St. John's river. Lieutenant 
Commanding Stevens, has orders to search for the 
apparatus, and collect all the aids to navigation. Many 
of the buoys have been found, including the bell buoy. 

9th. At St. Augustine, the tower is in perfect 
order. The rebel collector who remained at first denied 
knowing where the apparatus was, but on my having 
him arrested, with orders to have him kept on board 
the gunboat in the harbor until it was produced, he 
dispatched carts to the country, and it has been 
brought in, together with the apparatus belonging to 
the Cape Canaveral light-hou.se. They seemed to have 
been carefully packed, and are now in charge of 
Lieutenant Commanding J. W. Nicholson, on board the 
Isaac Smith. I am not aware of the intentions of the 
Board as to the re-lighting this coast, nor am I pre- 
pared to n:ake any suggestions in reference to it. 
Where we have an inside blockade, as at Bull's Bay, 
Edisto, St. Helena, Tybee. Brunswick, Fernandina, St. 
John's river, and St. Augustine, it could be done with 
security, excepting perhaps Bull's Bay. There is, how- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 45 

ever, no commerce yet, and the men-of-war and trans- 
ports have pilots. A regular buoy tender to avoid the 
chartering of a vessel might be of service. On the 
whole we are getting on well, and this work might 
be commenced more advantageously later. May I ask 
how the people in the Port Royal light -vessel are to 
be paid ? The captain came yesterday to see me about 
it. As yet they have had nothing, as you are aware. 
Directing expenditures outside of the regular expendi- 
tures, even in time of war, is difficult to accomplish; 
but these men are suffering. 

With my best respects to the individual members 
of the Board, and cordial regards to yourself, I am 
very respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 3d, 1862. 

To Honorable Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — I have been deterred from pressing the 
Department on a particular point, knowing how tre- 
mendous the calls are upon it from every quarter, 
and what gigantic and successful efforts it makes to 
meet them. I can, however, no longer refrain from 
stating that my force is not adequate to the work I 
have in hand. The occupation of the coasts of Geor- 
gia and Florida, having absorbed so many of my vessels, 
particularly where a military force has not been placed, 
cripples me much. 

In addition to this some of my most valuable 



146 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

vessels are breaking down in their machinery and 
hulls ; others, not coppered, will soon be destroyed 
by the worms, if I cannot at least beach them and 
put on some description of coating. 

The tugs Mercury and Pettit, most important to 
the efficient dispatch of the vessels of this squadron 
when they come in for supplies, are both with the 
army at Wall's Cut ; three gunboats besides are in 
Mud and Wright rivers, aiding in the army defences. 

I would thank the Department to let me have 
four more vessels of light draft, of the regular class, 
two of the double -rudder, and two of the gunboats, 
and, in addition, two tugs like the Pettit and Mercury. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C, April 3d, 1862. 

To Brigadier-General T. W. Sherman : 

General : — I understand you are transferred to 
another rhilitary department, and are about to leave 
Port Royal. 

It would be doing injustice to my feelings, and 
to our late intimate official relations, were I to permit 
you to depart without expressing the high apprecia- 
tion of the vigorous and harmonious co-operation with 
which you have ever been ready to assist in, or lighten 
the heavy responsibilities of my own command, 

I shall remember our past association, professionally 
and personally, with pride and satisfaction ; and shall 
ever bear testimony to the unflagging zeal with which 
you have availed yourself of every means in your 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU FONT. \\f 

power to secure an effective tenure of this coast, while 
preparing a base of operations which, with the rein- 
forcements you had a right to look for, would have 
led to more brilliant, but in no manner more impor- 
tant results than those you have accomplished. 

Wishing you every success in your new sphere 
of action, I am, General, with great respect, your most 
obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 3, 1862. 

To Commander S. W. Godon, 

Commanding United States Steamer Mohican : 

Sir : — You will find an extract from a commu- 
nication received by me from Brigadier - General Ben- 
ham, who commands this division of Major- General 
Hunter's department. It will assist you in getting at 
the condition of things in and around Wassaw. 

The General seems desirous to have some recon- 
noissance made up Wilmington river, and I think it 
would be well to ascertain how matters stand there. 
It should be done with caution. I do not wish you 
to engage any batteries, but to see if any exist. 

I have myself a greater desire to obstruct thor- 
oughly the Wilmington river, as you are aware it is 
the only access left from Savannah by St. Augustine 
creek to Wassaw and to the sea, except by the narrow 
stream of Freeborn's Cut, where the troops have a hulk. 

I will thank you to see where piling or sinking 
of wrecks could best be done ; how many it would 
require, with the depth of water and amount of labor. 



148 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

etc., involved. It should be strong enough to head off 
steamers, and rams too, if there be any. The appre- 
hension on the latter subject seems to have passed 
off with the spring tides. A boat scouting party, 
however, say they were close alongside of a ram, 
and heard the conversation of the men at work rivet- 
ing the boilers. She is a screw. 

With the Wilmington river closed, I could with- 
draw all but one vessel from Wassaw to watch the 
obstructions. 

The fall of Pulaski alone does not give us any 
more control of Wilmington river. Captain Hamilton, 
chief of artillery, informs me he thought it would be 
reduced in three days from the time fire was opened. 
They have been writing for the carriages of the ten- 
inch columbiads, which were not sent out. The mor- 
tars are in position, twelve of thirteen-inch, and some 
of ten-inch. 

Please send by first opportunity your requisitions 
of provisions, etc. 

Very respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 4th, 1862. 

To Brigadier-General H. W. Benham : 

General : — If you are forwarding anything to 
Wassaw, may I ask you to include the accompanying 
dispatch and roll to the senior naval ofificer, for I have 
no steamer to send by sea. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 



149 



The dispatch contains my instructions based on 
your letter, a copy of which I am also sending to 
Commander Godon. 

General, I wish I had the means of closing Wil- 
mington river by obstructions ; it is now the only 
access to Wassaw and the sea from Savannah. This 
would head off rams and steamers, and would require 
but one gunboat to watch the obstruction. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Saturday, April 5th, 1862. 

To Brigadier-General Benham : 

General : — I have your favor of this morning, 
and send an order to the commander of the Vandalia 
to go round to Wassaw, if you think that a more 
important place for her than Tybee Roads. She is a 
pretty formidable ship, and could lay across the mouth 
of Wilmington river — (a sailing vessel, however), I shall 
have to send provisions down to her, as she is out 
of everything. 

Since your first letter about Wassaw, I am happy 
to tell you that the Mohican has entered there. She 
is one of my most formidable vessels, having two 
eleven -inch guns and a rifle. 

I will strain every nerve to give you all the aid 
just now I can ; but I have not vessels enough, and 
particularly of light draft. I hear the Crusader, at 
Edisto, is out of coal. I am very apprehensive for 
the gunboat I have inside at Smyrna (Mosquito Inlet), 



150 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I have ordered up the Seneca, a regular eleven -inch 
gunboat, from St. John's, and expect her hourly. 

Please present my regards to General Hunter. 

Yours respectfully and truly, and in haste, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 5th, 1862. 

To Lieutenant Commanding Stevens, U. S. Gunboat Ottawa, 
Senior Officer in St. John's River : 

Sir: — I have not had an opportunity to write to 
you since the receipt of your communication of 28th 
ult., informing me of your recovery of the yacht America. 

I beg you to receive my commendations and con- 
gratulations on this interesting service, in the perform- 
ance of which you have shown so much untiring de- 
termination and skill. I have received from Lieutenant 
Irwin, of whom you have spoken so favorably in your 
report, a full account of the event. 

Please convey my thanks to Acting Master Budd 
and First Assistant Engineer Durgan, whose valuable 
assistance is also referred to by you. 

The historic interest which attaches to this vessel, 
and the incidents attending her career up to the time 
of your remarkable capture and recovery of her, make 
me very anxious to get her safely to Port Royal, 
where I purpose to refit her and send her North. 

You will therefore use your best judgment in get- 
ting her towed off by the first army transport that 
may, with the approval of General Wright, undertake 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. I5I 

the service, recommending great caution to the captain 
in the performance of it. If you think any other mode 
preferable, please suggest it. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 

P. S. — Since writing the within communication I 
have been informed through a message, this moment 
received from Brigadier-General Benham, that the orders 
had gone forward to withdraw the troops from Jackson- 
ville, stating the occupation of it was a military error. 

I endeavored, unofficially, to represent the political 
requirements of Florida, and the necessity of holding 
Jacksonville by a respectable force in both branches ; 
but this is no longer a question. I write to call your 
special attention as to what may be the effect of the 
withdrawal of the troops, and you must have a vigilant 
eye to the safety of the naval force under your com- 
mand. 

You will of course give all the security you can, 
and hold, as far as you are able, the city of Jackson- 
ville, and the coast of the St. John's river; but you 
must not unnecessarily hazard your vessel in guard- 
ing that which it is the duty of the army to protect, 
if protection is necessary. 

The blockade of the mouth of the river is our first 
duty, and you will see that this be effectually main- 
tained by your force, whether inside or outside of the bar. 

I can not be more specific, but I rely upon your 
discretion and judgment in meeting this new condition 
of affairs. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



152 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

2d P. S. — I need hardly add that all protection 
to loyal people that you can give will meet my warm 
approval, even to receiving them on board. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
. Port Royal Harbor, April 6th, 1862. 

To Major-General D. Hunter, Commanding Department 
of the South, Hilton Head: 

General : — I have this moment received the letter 
of Brigadier- General Viele to Brigadier -General Ben- 
ham, referred by you to me, and have already made 
signal to the armed tug Mercury to rejoin the naval 
force at Wall's Cut. 

The Mercury is the only vessel I have of which 
the draft will admit of going to the support of Gen- 
eral Viele. I have no intention of withdrawing the 
gunboats in Wright's and Mud rivers without first 
informing you of the same, though I want them much 
elsewhere. 

I am looking hourly for the Seneca, an eleven-inch 
cannon gunboat, which I will immediately place at 
your disposal. 

The force at Wassaw I increased yesterday by 
the Vandalia, sailing corvette, making four vessels there, — 
three steamers. 

Excuse the haste of this, and believe me, General, 
with great respect, yours most truly, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 53 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 13th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — The dispatches from the Commanding Gen- 
eral of this Department to the Honorable Secretary 
of War will convey the gratifying intelligence of the 
fall of Fort Pulaski. 

It was a purely military operation ; the result of 
laborious and scientific preparation, and of consummate 
skill and bravery in the execution. 

It would not have pertained to me to address you 
in reference to this brilliant and successful achieve- 
ment, had not Major -General Hunter, with a generous 
spirit long to be remembered, permitted the navy to 
be represented on this interesting occasion, by allow- 
ing a detachment of seamen and officers from this 
ship to serve one of the breaching batteries. I have 
thanked the General personally for this kindness, and 
I desire at the same time to express my acknowledg- 
ments to Brigadier-General Benham and Acting Brigadier- 
General Gilmore, for acts of consideration shown by 
them to my officers and men. 

I enclose the report of Commander C. R. P. 
Rodgers, who had the honor to command Battery 
Sigel on the second and important day. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



1 5 4 OFFICJA L DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 21st, 1862. 

To Brigadier - General H. \V. Bicnham, 

Commanding Northern District Department of the South, 
Hilton Head, S. C. : 

Dear General: — I have a dispatch from Lieu- 
tenant Commanding Nicholson, of the gunboat Isaac 
Smith, dated St. Augustine, April 20th (probably 19th), 
which contains the following: 

" No other news except that a party of rebels, 
under ,Colonel Davis, are still threatening the town, 
awaiting, as they say, the gunboats' leaving. I have 
arranged with Colonel Bell, in case of an attack, to go 
back to the town with this vessel, if it should take 
place before I get outside the bar." 

I had ordered the Isaac Smith to the St. John's 
river after the fort had been reinforced ; he has been 
waiting eleven days for sufficient water to cross the 
bar ; he mentions the Belvidere as detained for the 
same cause. Colonel Bell has five guns mounted, and 
two we captured in the St. John's river have arrived, 
and are being well placed. 

General, you know best, but these Floridians ought 
to be well punished while you are waiting for your 
reinforcements for more important work. 

Will you do me the favor to inform the Major- 
General that the Somerset, Lieutenant Commanding 
English, which called in for coal yesterday, will leave 
early in the morning for Key West? She brought a 
Herald of the 15th, one day later than we had by 
the Atlantic. I send it with this in case your papers 
were also only to the 14th. 

I am, my dear General, yours truly, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, etc. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. I 55 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 22d, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have the honor to enclose a copy of a 
report from Lieutenant Commanding Rhind, of the 
Crusader, detaih'ng the circumstances of a concealed 
attack upon one of his boats, in which Acting Master 
Wm. D. Uraim was severely wounded. 

Lieutenant Commanding Rhind, with the co-opera- 
tion of Colonel Fellows of the army, commanding the 
port at North Edisto, planned a night attack upon 
the enemy, and though not successful in surprising 
them, had a short engagement with the rebels, in 
which, he says, " The loss of the enemy I feel sure 
was sufficient to punish them for their cowardly attack 
on our boat." 

Three of the Crusader's men were wounded in 
this skirmish, viz., Gustave Wacker, O. S., in the right 
arm and breast; Theodore Peterson, seaman, wounded 
on the hip, slightly ; and James Wilson, first boat- 
swain's mate, in the leg, slightly. 

Acting Master Wm. D. Uraim, who was fired upon 
in the boat, was wounded in the left forefinger and 
right wrist. The finger has since been amputated. 

Lieutenant Commanding Rhind speaks of him as 
an excellent officer. He is disabled for some time, 
but has no desire to leave. 

The ^ name of James Wilson, boatswain's mate, is 
also mentioned favorably. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



156 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 23d, 1862. 

To Honorable Gidkon Welles, Secretarj' of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — It has been my intention for some time 
past to write very fully to the Department on the 
subject of the blockade of the Southern ports under my 
command, but the pressure of business has hitherto in- 
terfered. 

I have received from time to time dispatches from 
the Department, enclosing communications from our 
ministers and consuls abroad, referring to steamers and 
sailing vessels suspected of the intention of running the 
blockade. 

A list has been printed under my direction at 
this place, and a copy supplied to every ship in my 
squadron, to which are added the names of such ves- 
sels as are mentioned in subsequent dispatches. 

In one of my communications to the Department, 
I submitted a change or modification in my instructions 
to the blockading ships, directing them to board every 
vessel proceeding toward a blockaded port ; and, if on 
examination any irregularity appeared in her papers, or 
any suspicious circumstances were discovered attending 
her position or her cargo, and particularly if she had 
any knowledge of the blockade, such vessel was to be 
seized and sent in for adjudication. 

Under this general instruction no vessel, steamer 
or otherwise, can approach our coast without being 
liable to seizure, no matter under what flag she may 
profess to be sailing ; and certainly no ship containing 
contraband-of-war would be allowed after examination 
to escape, whether she be on the list of suspected 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. I 57 

vessels or not. I merely mention this in passing, to 
show the Department that I am fully prepared to 
capture every vessel attempting to run the blockade, 
so far as my force and circumstances will permit. 

Much has been said in the papers at home and 
abroad of the utter insufficiency of the blockade ; and 
a too ready credence given by our public functionaries 
and our merchants to the representations of parties 
interested in making out a case against the Govern- 
ment. 

The list of suspected vessels in my possession, 
made up from various sources, comprises schooners of 
light draft, larger sailing vessels, and steamers, amount- 
ing to about one hundred and sixty; and of this large 
number, how few have ever run the blockade, or even 
ventured to approach this coast! With rare excep- 
tions, only very light craft and two or three rebel steam- 
mers, with the assistance of local pilots of long expe- 
rience, with concerted signals from row-boats and from 
shore, and under protection of night or dense fogs, have 
been successful. 

The Bermuda and the Fingal are the only for- 
eign steamers that have evaded the vigilance of the 
squadron, and as the Department is aware, the former 
is at present at Bermuda, not daring to run the hazard 
again, and the latter has never made her escape from 
the Savannah river. 

The steamers Gladiator, Talisman, Sidney Hall, 
Yage, Cambridge, Imperative, Economist, Southvvark, 
Herald, Bahama, Minna, Sedgwick, and others, which 
have left the friendly shores of Great Britain, said to 
be loaded with arms and munitions of war of all kinds 
for the rebels, seek shelter in the so-called neutral 
colonies off our coast, and, not venturing to approach 



158 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

the blockaded ports, tranship their cargoes into small 
vessels of the lightest draft, provided in a great meas- 
ure by the merchants of these same colonies, who 
seem ever ready to assist in any attempt to embar- 
rass the Government of the United States. 

The capture of the forts at Port Royal, which 
occurred immediately after my arrival on this station, 
gave us possession of this noble harbor, and was fol- 
lowed shortly after by the entire control of the en- 
trance of the Savannah river ; of Wassaw and Ossebaw 
Sounds, Georgia; St. Helena Sound, and North and 
South Edisto, South Carolina ; in all of which an inner 
blockade was effectually established. 

Other vessels of my squadron were dispatched 
southward to guard the numerous inlets of Georgia 
and Florida, and northward to cover Stono, Charleston, 
Bull's Bay, and Georgetown, South Carolina, — a very 
extensive and difficult coast to blockade, particularly in 
the winter season, when, from constantly recurring gales, 
the blockading ships were liable to be driven off from 
their stations, or on shore under the rebel batteries. 

Happily at the present time these difficulties have 
in a great measure disappeared by the success attend- 
ing the expedition of the last month, which has re- 
sulted in the establishment of an inner blockade of 
St. Catherine, Sapelo, Duboy, and St. Simon's Sounds ; 
Fernandina, St. John's river, St. Augustine, and Mos- 
quito Inlet ; thus closing the entire coast of Georgia 
and Florida to all efforts of the rebels and our neutral 
friends to introduce either provisions or arms. 

During the progress of this expedition I had 
abundant evidence of the stringency of the blockade, 
in the great scarcity of even the necessaries of life, 
and the very high price demanded for both food and 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 59 

clothing ; further shown by the price-currents as given 
in the Southern papers, the most essential articles 
being continuously on the rise. Only one small vessel 
(and that was captured) had entered the harbor of 
Fernandina for ninety days prior to our taking pos- 
session ; though, according to the reports of the rebels 
and those interested abroad, as mentioned in one of 
the consular communications from London to the De- 
partment, it was almost an " open port" ! 

I claim to have some experience in blockading, 
for during our war with Mexico I was much employed 
in this most arduous and often thankless duty on the 
west coast of that country. I claim also to have some 
knowledge of naval history in connection therewith ; 
and I therefore make the declaration, under a full 
sense of my responsibility in doing so, that no block- 
ade in the history of the world has ever been more 
effective ; particularly when the extent and character 
of our coast, in all its features, are considered, together 
with the many circumstances rendering this service 
most embarrassing ; such as an organized system in 
Europe, especially in England, to evade it, with colonies 
on our flank used as intermediary stations, to aid and 
abet in its violation. 

I beg leave to remind the Department how much 
the difficulty of maintaining a close blockade has been 
increased by the introduction of steam. 

The Department, whilst referring to the blockade 
generally, has required particular information as to the 
port of Charleston. In a dispatch to the Honorable 
Secretary of the Navy, dated as far back as the 28th 
of January, I spoke of the sinking of the second stone 
fleet, thereby closing two of the channels leading into 



l6o OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

that harbor, and guarding those unobstructed by no 
less than three vessels. 

Since that time the force off Charleston has never 
been diminished ; but on the other hand has been, 
whenever practicable, increased, and always under the 
direction of experienced officers. At the present time 
I have no less than six steamers and two sailing 
vessels off that port, which I purpose still further to 
increase. 

In reference to the resolution of inquiry of the 
Senate which the Department has forwarded to me, I 
presume . the preceding statements fully cover the spirit 
of it. As to' the assertion of the British Consul at 
Charleston contained therein (whatever may have oc- 
curred on this coast in the early days of the rebellion), 
if it be intended to apply to the period of my com- 
mand, I have only to stamp it as one of those ab- 
surd partisan statements of which this rebellion has been 
so fruitful. 

The present disposition of the blockading fleet is 
as follows : 

Off Georgetown, the steamers Keystone State, Nor- 
wich, and armed bark Gem of the Sea; Albatross on 
her way. 

In Bull's Bay, effectually preventing ingress or 
egress, the armed ship Onward. 

Off Charleston, James Adger, Augusta, Bienville, 
Pocahontas, Alabama, Huron, and armed sailing ships 
Restless and Roebuck. 

Off Stono, the Flambeau. 

In North Edisto, the Crusader and E. B. Hale. 

In St. Helena Sound, the Dale. 

At Wall's Cut, Unadilla and Western World. 

At Wassaw, Mohican, Wyandotte, and Vandalia. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. l6l 

At St. Catharine, Sapelo, Duboy, and St. Simon's, 
Potomska, Wamsutta, and Florida. 

At Fernandina and adjacent waters. Pawnee, Darling- 
ton, and Hope. 

In St. John's river, Seneca and Pembina. 

At St. Augustine, the Isaac Smith. 

At Mosquito Inlet, Henry Andrews and Penguin. 

There are at this port the Susquehanna and 
Ottawa, coaling, to proceed immediately to Charleston; 
the Sumter, repairing engines after seventy days ser- 
vice off Charleston; the Madgie, which has just joined 
the squadron in a disabled condition, and the Ellen, 
which, I fear, will be found unfit for further active 
service. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 27th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I received this afternoon at four o'clock 
the Department's order to direct the Susquehanna to 
proceed to Hampton Roads, and report to Flag Officer 
Goldsborough. 

She happened to be in this harbor coaling, and I 
have given orders to Captain Lardner to proceed to 
sea at daylight to-morrow morning ; the state of the 
tide not enabling him to cross the bar this evening. 

It would be doing injustice to the public interests 
here, and to myself, did I fail to say that the with- 
drawal of this ship, and the officer commanding it, is 
a serious inroad into the efficiency of this squadron. 



1 62 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I had prepared to shift my flag to her on Tues- 
day, for the purpose of visiting Charleston, to see for 
myself if it was possible to place the blockading ships 
there in more effective positions. 

Captain Lardner's experience made his presence 
there very important to me. 

The Susquehanna is the only vessel, by her ar- 
mament, which would cover the large force of weak 
vessels now off that port. I have information that 
three iron-clad gunboats may be soon expected from 
France ; boats of that kind too are building in Charles- 
ton itself 

It has been stated frequently that an iron ram is 
at Savannah, and may come down Wilmington river 
and attack the force there. 

I have information to-day that nearly all the live- 
oak has been burned at Smyrna, — some thirty thou- 
sand feet of it. The Henry Andrews could not prevent 
it, but landed her crew and put out the fire. She is 
the only vessel that can cross Mosquito Bar, and 
troops should have been sent out to protect it. 

Further, the rebels are in possession of Jackson- 
ville, and my gunboats only control the river below it. 

A vessel ran into Darien a few days since. I re- 
quire more vessels everywhere. The Department is send- 
ing me more and more stringent directions in reference 
to the blockade, directing courts of inquiry to be held 
for any infraction of it, and the Senate is passing reso- 
lutions reflecting on myself and my officers ; and I 
appeal to the justice of the Department if this is 
a moment to reduce my force, and take from me my 
most efficient ships and my most experienced officers. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1,63 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 2d, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — I am sure that the Department is at all 
times desirous to know, from those charged with im- 
portant public services, whatever in their opinion would 
promote the efficiency of that service. 

Under this incentive I think it my duty to inform 
the Department that, considering its contiguity to the 
seat of government, this station is without sufficient 
mail facilities. The opportunities for communicating 
with the Department, and receiving its orders, are en- 
tirely too limited. 

The last mail brought us letters to the 12th, pos- 
sibly the 13th, of April, now nineteen days since; 
longer than is required for the arrival of an answer 
to a communication from any part of Europe. 

The naval and military necessities for a regular 
correspondence need not be dwelt upon, as the De- 
partment will be fully alive to them when it is in- 
formed that there has been a gradual falling-off in 
our intercourse with the North. 

In addition to the public requirements, the fact 
of there being some twenty-five thousand men ashore 
and afloat, with the anxieties to hear from their families 
and friends, incident to a war like this, is a moral 
reason worthy of consideration. 

I have been greatly indebted to the Quarter- 
master's department here, for various facilities offered 
to the squadron by the transports connected with the 
army since our occupation on the coast. 

The deprivation to us would have been considera- 



164 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

ble but for this readiness to oblige and further the 
public service. 

Our own two supply ships we hardly look to ; 
the number of points on the coast they have to visit, 
their frequent omissions to stop at these, unavoidable 
probably, the great haste they are always in when 
they do stop, with the interminable time they remain 
in New York after their arrival, have greatly impaired 
the humane and considerate intentions of the Depart- 
ment in establishing them. 

If the Rhode Island could be assigned to this 
station, and the Connecticut, the faster of the two, 
could go directly to the Gulf, — neither to call at 
Hampton Roads, in daily intercourse with Baltimore, — 
both stations would be benefited. 

General Hunter is equally impressed with myself 
that we are too much isolated here now, and is about 
remedying it so far as his means will enable him 
to do. 

Should these views be favorably entertained, one 
point I would especially recommend, — the importance 
and convenience of having a specific day and hour 
of departure from the North, to be widely advertised. 

With the permission of the Department, I would 
respectfully suggest that in connection with the steamers 
of the army, an arrangement could be made for a 
weekly mail from Port Royal and New York, to leave 
each place every Saturday. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 165 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 6th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have the honor to transmit to the De- 
partment the report of Lieutenant Commanding D. 
Ammen, the senior officer in the St. John's river, with 
some enclosures. 

The Department will not fail to see how ener- 
getically and intelligently this officer has held control 
of the waters of the St. John's, notwithstanding the 
withdrawal of the troops from Jacksonville. This, too, 
with so small a force, which has however penetrated 
again up to Picolata. 

I commend him to the especial notice of the De- 
partment. 

Lieutenant Commanding Nicholson, of the Isaac 
Smith, was detained over three weeks at St. Augustine 
before it was possible for him to get over the bar; 
he entered the St. John's river, however, on the 4th 
inst., as I am informed by a letter just received from 
Commander Drayton, who also announces the arrival 
at Fernandina of the refugees alluded to by Lieutenant 
Commanding Ammen. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



1 66 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May loth, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the dis- 
patch of the Department of the 2d inst., referring to the 
vessels which, according to reports from the Consuls 
at Nassau and other places, had run the blockade at 
Charleston. 

In a previous dispatch I wrote very fully on this 
subject of the blockade, and do not purpose now to 
dwell further on it. 

I have explained the difficulties of closing against 
daring and desperate adventurers such a coast as ours, 
and have, on more than one occasion, asked the De- 
partment to send me more ships suitable for this 
arduous duty. I have endeavored, with the compara- 
tively small forces under my command, composed in 
part of vessels utterly unsuited for the purpose, to 
guard all the ports within the limit of my command, 
and particularly the port of Charleston, — the only port 
on the whole coast where the blockade is ever vio- 
lated. This I assert without fear of contradiction. 

I have now eleven vessels covering the coast from 
Stono Inlet to Bull's Bay, a distance of thirty miles ; 
eight of these are off Charleston, an area of thirteen 
miles. The officers are vigilant; there is a spirit of 
rivalry between the ships ; some of the commanding 
officers, with suitable vessels, are very bold ; from sun- 
set to sunrise they are personally on watch ; the 
blockading force, variously grouped during the day, 
change their stations after nightfall, and these are con- 
stantly shifted, so as to avoid bearings being taken of 
them from the harbor. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 6/ 

They approach the shoals and shallow waters as 
near as their vessels will permit, and frequently draw 
upon themselves the fire of the batteries. 

Yet, as I have stated in a previous communica- 
tion, very small craft and very light draft steamers 
may still get in and out. There is no vessel in this 
squadron that can pass where they do within a mile — 
a distance sufficient to avoid discovery on a starlight 
night, shielded moreover, as they are, by the shadow 
of the land behind them ; but within the last few 
weeks the number of these captured has been greater 
than I could have hoped. 

In a list of vessels given in a letter from Nassau, of 
April iith, and published in the New York Times of 
the 13th inst., as having run the blockade, some are 
stated to have run out of the St. John's river and 
Fernandina ; if they had been announced as coming out 
of Port Royal, and passing under the yard-arms of the 
Wabash, the statement would be equally correct. 

Some time back a list of sixty-five vessels furnished 
by a commander's clerk in this squadron to a Philadel- 
phia evening paper, as vessels suspected of an intention 
to run the blockade, was published by that paper under 
a caption in large capitals, " Vessels that have run the 
Blockade ;" though only two of the whole list had suc- 
ceeded in doing so, — the Bermuda and the Fingal. 

Still, there is room for more steamers off Charles- 
ton. I have used my best judgment in the distribu- 
tion of those I have along the coast ; yet if the De- 
partment desires that the blockade should be more 
stringent and effective, I trust it will supply me with 
more vessels for this purpose. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



1 68 Ol' FILIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 14th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I enclose a report from Commander E. G. 
Parrott, brought here last night by the late rebel steam 
tug Planter, in charge of an officer and crew from 
the Augusta. She was the armed dispatch and trans- 
portation steamer attached to the engineer department 
at Charleston, under Brigadier- General Ripley, whose 
barge was brought out to the blockading fleet by 
several contrabands, a short time since. 

The bringing out of this steamer, under all the 
circumstances, would have done credit to any one. At 
four o'clock in the morning, in the absence of the 
captain, who was on shore, she left her wharf, close 
to the Government office and headquarters, with pal- 
metto and Confederate flags flying, and passed the forts, 
saluting, as usual, by blowing her steam whistle. After 
getting beyond the range of the last gun, she quickly 
hauled down the rebel flags and hoisted a white one. 
The Onward was the inside ship of the block- 
ading fleet in the main channel, and was preparing to 
fire, when her commander made out the white flag. 

The armament of the steamer is a thirty -two- 
pound pivot, and a fine twenty - four pound howitzer. 
She had besides, on her deck, four other guns; one 
seven - inch, rifled, to be taken the morning of the 
escape to the new fort on the middle ground ; one 
of them belonged to Fort Sumter, and had been 
struck in the rebel attack on that fort, on the muzzle. 
Robert, the intelligent slave and pilot of the boat, 
who performed this bold feat so skillfully, informed 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 69 

me of this fact, presuming it would be a matter of 
interest to us to have possession of this gun. 

This man, Robert Small, is superior to any who 
have yet come into the lines, intelligent as many of 
them have been ; his information has been most in- 
teresting, and portions of it of the utmost importance. 

This steamer is quite a valuable acquisition to the 
squadron by her good machinery and very light draft. 
The officer in charge brought her through St. Helena 
Sound and by the inland passage down Beaufort river, 
arriving at ten o'clock last night. On board the 
steamer, when she left Charleston, were eight men, 
five women, and three children. 

I shall continue to employ Robert as a pilot, on 
board the Planter, for the inland waters, with which 
he appears to be very familiar. I do not know whether 
in the views of the Government the vessel will be 
considered a prize ; but if so, I respectfully submit to 
the Department the claims of this man, Robert, and 
his associates. 

Respectfully, etc. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 17th, 1862. 

To Brigadier-General H. W. Benham, Commanding Northern 
District, Department of the South, Headquarters, 
Hilton Head, S. C. 

General: — I received last evening, a communica- 
tion from Lieutenant Commanding Rhind, with enclo- 
sures ; copies of which are herewith submitted. 

A misunderstanding, somewhat similar, occurred a 



I/O OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

short time since in St. Helena Sound, between another 
transport and Lieutenant Commanding Truxton, of the 
Dale, in reference to which I wrote to Major -General 
Hunter. 

It is my purpose now to issue an order that the 
ships of my squadron shall in future avoid all inter- 
course with the army transports. I prefer, infinitely, 
giving up all issues on the questions involved, con- 
sidering it of much less moment for a vessel to run 
by and land arms for the rebels, than that the har- 
mony existing between the two services should be dis- 
turbed in the slightest degree. 

As intimated in my communication to Major- 
General Hunter, in war times small men-of-war on 
detached service may be considered pickets on the 
water ; and, as Government transports are frequently 
dependent upon them for assistance in case of acci- 
dent, and for protection in case of danger, their officers 
should be treated with ordinary courtesy whenever they 
happen to board them. The captains of these trans- 
port steamers are much more sensitive than I am ; 
for I am stopped by your pickets, with my flag and 
ensign flying in my boat, and made to show a pass, 
though I have been six months here ; and this I deem 
right. 

But as I said above, no transport shall be boarded 
by any vessel of this squadron, if she is known to 
be such ; and the order will be imperative, whether 
before or after anchoring. 

Yet, General, I cannot pass over the gratuitous 
insult, not to the boarding officer for any offence of 
his, if he committed one, but to the navy generally, 
and this squadron in particular, from myself down, 
offered by the Captain of the Delaware. General 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 17I 

Wright very properly ordered him under arrest, and I 
hope to have the satisfaction of hearing that he has 
been discharged from the Government service. 

This is not the first time that my officers have 
had to complain of such conduct. The master of the 
Mayflower grossly insulted Commander Steedman of 
the Bienville, before you assumed the command. A 
report was made to Brigadier- General Sherman, and 
to Captain Saxton, Chief Quartermaster; but the man 
was in no manner reprehended. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 24th, 1862. 

To Commander J. B. Marchand, 

, Senior Officer off Charleston : 

Sir: — I have just anchored here from my visit 
to the Southern coast, and have received your com- 
munication of the 2 1st. 

I had the pleasure to read your signal from inside 
the bar at Stono, on Tuesday last, informing me that 
you had possession, and that the upper battery off 
Legareville was abandoned, as well as that on Cole's 
Island. I desire, however, to have control of the 
whole river, and I wish you to proceed with the gun- 
boats and feel the battery near Wappoo Cut, which 
Robert Small represents as very imperfectly finished 
at best. 

Captain Boutelle, whom I am now sending to con- 
vey this order to you, will convey orders to the 
Huron to join your force in the Stono river. 



1/2 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Please accept my commendation, not only to 
yourself, but to the commanding officers of the gun- 
boats, Lieutenants Commanding Collins, Bankhead, and 
Creighton, as reported by you, for the zeal manifested 
in this new occupation, which is likely to become an 
important one. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 24th, 1862. 

To Major - General D. Hunter, commanding 
Department of the South : 

General: — I have just returned from a visit to 
the various points held by the South Atlantic block- 
ading squadron, extending from Georgetown to Fer- 
nandina. 

Among the official papers awaiting my arrival, 
was one addressed by Brigadier- General Benham to 
the senior officer left in charge at this port. It will 
be sufficient to you to read it, to see that its tone 
and character are not such as should be addressed to 
an officer under my command. 

On your arrival here to take command of this 
department, to prevent delay and circumlocution in 
matters of general detail, I readily agreed to put my- 
self in official communication with Brigadier- General 
Benham, commanding the Northern Division of your 
department. 

I have now to say, in virtue of my assimilated 
rank as a Major- General, I must respectfully request 
you will be pleased to convey to me any of your 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 73 

plans and intentions in which you desire to have a 
co-operation with the naval force under my command ; 
and I trust I need hardly add that I shall ever be 
ready to give you all the aid in my power, when the 
regular duties of this squadron and the orders under 
which I am acting will permit it. 

I learn, verbally, and through unofficial letters ad- 
dressed to Commander Rodgers, that important move- 
ments are now in contemplation, but I have never been 
addressed on the subject, except in a very informal 
manner, and that verbally, some weeks back. 

I am, General, with great respect, your most obe- 
dient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 28th, 1862. 

Commander J. B. Marchand, United States Steamer James 
Adger, Senior Officer off Charleston : 

Sir: — I have received your several reports writ- 
ten within the last {q'w days. 

I take occasion to commend your zeal and prompt- 
itude in taking possession of the Stono River, particu- 
larly in reconnoitering the defences of Cole's Island 
in a small boat, and drawing the fire of the enemy 
upon you, at great risk to yourself and boat's crew. 

I write now to say that, although I am completely 
at fault as to the intentions of the army, I am de- 
sirous to offer every facility in my power towards their 
operations ; and I desire you to hold the Bienville, 
Augusta, Alabama, and Keystone State in readiness to 



174 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

come here, and transport the troops to other points, 
if required. 

Commander Drayton has just arrived from Fernan- 
dina ; and as the Pawnee's draft admits, with care, of 
her crossing the Stono bar, I have concluded to send 
Commander Drayton to that river, in pursuance of the 
information you have forwarded to me, and of Lieu- 
tenant Commanding CoUins's report of the condition of 
things there, 

I congratulate you, and the blockading force off 
Charleston, on its recent important captures, as an evi- 
dence of your and their zeal and vigilance. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 28th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report the capture of 
another steamer by Commander Mullany, of the Bien- 
ville, off Bull's Island, yesterday morning. 

She was an English iron screw steamer of five 
hundred tons, called the Patras, under command of 
Edmund Elliott. Before being boarded the vessel 
showed English colors ; upon inquiry, the captain re- 
ported that he had no papers, was bound to no par- 
ticular place, only " coasting along." 

The cargo, according to the statements of the offi- 
cers and crew, consists of fourteen hundred barrels of 
turpentine, fifty boxes of arms, one box of quinine, ten 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 75 

boxes merchandise, eight hundred and forty-eight bags 
of coffee, etc. 

She was sent to New York in charge of Acting 
Master George D. Upham, of the James Adger, with 
the captain and two of the crew, as witnesses ; the rest 
of the crew were brought here in the Norwich, and 
will be sent North by the first opportunity. 

A schooner arrived in port this evening from Key 
West, and reports the capture of the English steamer 
Circassian, by the Eastern Gulf blockading squadron. 

By reference to my list of suspected vessels, I find 
included the Cambria, Stettin, and Circassian, but not 
the Patras. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 28th, 1862. 

Commander P. Drayton, United States Steamer 
Pawnee, Port Royal : 

Sir: — Important events seem pending; in connec- 
tion with these, the occupation of the Stono River is 
of moment. A few days since, Commander Marchand, 
senior officer off Charleston, entered the river with the 
Unadilla, Pembina, and Ottawa. The forts on Cole's 
Island were found abandoned ; also a large work of 
eighteen guns on the site of " Old Fort," opposite Le- 
gareville. The river seemed clear a few miles above 
this ; but since then, as you will perceive by the en- 
closed communications from Commander Marchand and 
Lieutenant Commanding Collins, the enemy has ap- 



176 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

peared with a floating hulk, and towed by steam tugs; 
the hulk armed evidently with a gun of long range. 

Batteries higher up the Stono have been reported ; 
according to our last and most reliable authority they 
are not yet completed. 

I beg you, with your usual good judgment, to 
examine into the condition of things. The army has 
not yet informed me of its intentions ; but Stono, so 
near to Charleston, must have become an important 
sphere of operations. 

The gunboats found it difficult to cross the bar 
of the Stono River. You will use caution with the 
Pawnee. Mr. Boutelle is in that neighborhood, and Mr, 
Haffards left this morning in the Ellen. You are au- 
thorized to ask the services of the former, who is al- 
ways willing, and to require those of Mr. Haffards, 
who is officially appointed pilot in this squadron. 

You will, as senior officer, assume command of the 
naval forces of the Stono River, and will please re- 
port your proceedings, and the condition of things, as 
often as you have the opportunity. 

I congratulate myself on your opportune return 
from your valuable services at Fernandina, that I am 
enabled to send you to this new and important sphere 
of our operations. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 77 

Flag Ship Keystone State, 

Fernandina, May 22d, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding Ammen, United States Steamer Seneca, 
Senior Officer, St. John's River, Florida : 

Sir : — I have received your communication of yes- 
terday, and the enclosed report of Lieutenant Com- 
manding Nicholson, and must again express my approval 
of the judgment and activity exercised by you and 
the officers under your command, in holding the con- 
trol of the St. John's River. I leave your future 
movements to your own discretion. 

I have noticed the suggestion of Lieutenant Com- 
manding Nicholson in reference to the destruction of 
the houses around Orange Mills ; but for the present, 
unless the vessels are fired upon from that vicinity, I 
do not wish that there should be any destruction of 
property. 

Since Sunday last I have been moving up and 
down the coast, visiting Charleston, Georgetown, and 
St. Simon's, arriving here yesterday. I shall be at Port 
Royal again by Saturday evening. 

You have probably heard of the achievement of 
a contraband pilot employed on General Ripley's steamer, 
the Planter, The captain and engineer having gone on 
shore to visit their families. Robert Small quietly, be- 
fore daylight, cast off the hawsers by which she was 
moored to the wharf in front of the General's quar- 
ters, and steamed past Fort Sumter, giving the usual 
signals, and flying the Confederate flag until out of 
range, when he pulled it down, and, hoisting a white 
flag, brought the steamer safely out to the blockading 
squadron. The pilot is quite intelligent, and gave some 
valuable information about the abandonment of Stono. 



178 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

At my instance Captain Marchand made a recon- 
noissance ; and finding the statement true, crossed the 
bar on Tuesday last, with the gunboats Unadilla, Pem- 
bina, and Ottawa. I have no doubt the Charlestonians 
thought their time had come. 

The news from the Mississippi is very gratifying; 
the whole rebel fleet nearly is destroyed on the lower 
Mississippi, by Flag Officer Farragut ; and in the vici- 
nity of Fort Wright, by Acting Flag Officer Davis, who 
is in command, vice Foote, who has returned East on 
account of his wound. 

I send you the latest paper or two. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 28th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — When off Georgetown, in the Keystone State, 
on the 19th inst.. Commander Prentiss, of the Alba- 
tross, and the senior officer of the blockading force off 
that port, informed me he had delayed crossing the bar, 
apprehensive that the steamer Seabrook, with a thou- 
sand bales of cotton on board, might get out of the 
Santee while he was inside, but that he was preparing 
to enter. 

I have the pleasure to enclose a very interesting 
report from him, detailing his operations, and occupa- 
tion of Winyau Bay. 



', * 

ADMIRAL S. F. DUPONT. I79 

Commander Prentiss passed the bar on the 21st 
inst. with the Albatross and the Norwich, Lieutenant 
Commanding Duncan, and entered Winyau Bay. 

After passing a small deserted redoubt near the 
h'ght- house, one extensive fortification was observed 
on South Island, with apparently several large guns 
mounted ; but on approaching nearer it was found de- 
serted, and the guns proved to be " Quakers." Another 
fortification on Cat Island was also abandoned. 

On the 2 2d he stood up the bay for the city of 
Georgetown, entered Sampt Creek, and steamed slowly 
along the wharves. Not being prepared to hold the 
place, Commander Prentiss did not land, knowing that 
there was a force of both cavalry and artillery in the 
town, and a contest might have involved the destruc- 
tion of the city. 

He ascended the Wacaman river about ten miles 
above Georgetown, through a rich and beautiful country, 
meeting with no resistance. He took under his pro- 
tection about eighty contrabands. 

The rebels are much alarmed, and are leaving their 
plantations in every direction, driving their slaves 
before them to the pine woods. The whole region 
around Georgetown could be easily taken, and with a 
small land force and a few gunboats, could be held. 

The Department, I am sure, will be pleased with 
the report of Commander Prentiss, as it conveys not 
only important information, but at the same time 
evinces on his part courage and judgment. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



l8o OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 30th, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding Rhind, United States Steamer Crusader, 
Senior Officer, North Edisto : 

Sir: — The Planter, Acting Master Dickinson, is 
directed to report to you. She has been added to your 
force to aid you in giving such facilities to General 
Wright as he may from time to time require, and for 
any other purpose which you may deem important, — her 
light draft making her a desirable vessel for inside work. 

I learn however that the rebels have given some 
evidence of wishing to recover Stono ; and you will 
please dispatch, on the arrival of the Planter, the 
E. B. Hale to that river, to report to Commander 
Drayton, the senior officer there. 

You will see by the orders to Acting Master Dick- 
inson, that Acting Master Phenix, of the Pocohontas, 
has been ordered to relieve the former in the com- 
mand of the Planter ; and I have sent orders to Com- 
mander Marchand to send him down to North Edisto, 
and if you can facilitate Acting Master Dickinson in 
joining the Keystone State, I will thank you. 

I have ordered your mails to be forwarded by the 
Planter. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 31st, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — In my despatch of the 28th I reported the 
capture of the steamer Patras, by the Bienville. I have 
now the pleasure to report the capture on the 29th inst. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. l8l 

of the steamer Miramon, by the Keystone State, off 
Charleston, of the particulars of which Commander 
Le Roy has informed the Department. Also, of the 
capture of three schooners, on the 29th inst., by the 
Bienville, about twenty- five miles southeast of Charles- 
ton bar ; their names are. Providence, formerly called 
the Experiment, the Rebecca, and La Criolla, other- 
wise the Nora, a yacht belonging, it is said, to Fra- 
zier & Co, The latter prizes were brought to this port 
by the Bienville. 

As this steamer needs some repairs to her ma- 
chinery, I have concluded to send her to Philadel- 
phia. Her chief engineer was sent in charge of a 
prize ; and as Mr. King, chief engineer of this ship, 
is quite indisposed, I have directed him to report to 
Commander Mullany for duty. Enclosed is a copy of 
his orders. It is with reluctance I part for a short 
time with so efficient a steamer for blockading duty 
as the Bienville, and trust that the Department will 
send her back as soon as possible. 

In connection with the subject of prizes, I would 
add that there are on board the Bienville part of the 
crew of the steamers Stettin and Patras, which were 
sent by Commander Mullany to New York for adju- 
dication. I presume these men should be forwarded, 
at Government expense, to the port where the vessels 
will be adjudicated ; and I would ask the Department 
to give instructions to Commander Mullany how to 
dispose of them. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



1 82 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 31st, 1862. 

Honorable Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform the Department 
that the gunboats have possession of Stono, 

From information derived chiefly from the contra- 
band pilot, Robert Small, I had reason to believe that 
the rebels had abandoned their batteries ; and accord- 
ingly directed Commander Marchand, the senior officer 
off Charleston, to make a reconnoissance to ascertain 
the truth of the report. This was done on the 19th 
inst. ; and the information proving correct, I ordered the 
gunboats on the next day (being myself off Charleston, 
in the Keystone State), to cross the bar. 

The Unadilla, Pembina, and Ottawa, under Com- 
mander Marchand, assisted materially by C. O. Boutelle, 
Esq., assistant in the Coast Survey, succeeded in enter- 
ing Stono, and proceeded up the river above the old 
fort opposite Legareville. On their approach the barracks 
were fired and deserted by the enemy. 

Six prisoners were captured by Messrs. Boyd and 
Bradford, two officers of the surveying steamer Bibb, 
with a boat's crew of five seamen. The prisoners were 
a picket guard at the magazine of the old fort, and 
belonged to the Twenty- fourth South Carolina regiment. 

On the 28th inst. the Huron crossed the bar, and 
on the day following, the Pawnee. 

Enclosed is a copy of an interesting report from 
Commander Drayton, in which he says, " We are in as 
complete possession of the river as of Port Royal, and 
can land and protect the army whenever it wishes." 

There are no batteries of the enemy on the Stono, 
below Wappoo Cut, where however the rebels have a 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 183 

battery of smooth - bore guns, with a rifled cannon of 
long range exceeding that of any in the squadron. 

This important base of operations, the Stono, has 
thus been secured for further operations by the army 
against Charleston, of which General Hunter proposes 
to take advantage. 

I have put at his disposal for the transportation 
of troops, the steamers Alabama, Bienville, Henry 
Andrews, Hale, and the Planter. The tugs Pettit and 
Mercury are to - night employed in the same duty. 

The army is very deficient in vessels for transpor- 
tation. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June ist, 1862. 

To Major-General D. Hunter, Commanding Department 
of the South, Hilton Head, S. C. : 

General: — I have received Brigadier- General Ben- 
ham's message through Mr. Preston. I regret that two 
of my ships should be delayed from important service 
for another day ; but I am aware of the difficulties you 
have to contend with, and the vessels will wait until 
to-morrow morning. 

I have however to take exception to the attempt 
of General Benham, as expressed in very unqualified 
terms to Mr. Preston, to attribute his inability to meet 
his own arrangements to any short -comings on my 
part. 



184 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I learn from Mr. Preston that he again spoke of 
the Planter as having gone off without his knowledge. 
He asked for this steamer to go to Edisto to assist 
General Wright to cross and land his troops, and she 
was dispatched in all haste. 

General Wright and himself seem to have given 
faith to a malicious report that the gunboats had been 
driven down Stono, hence all the disappointment about 
the Planter. 

The steamer Henry Andrews is here from the 
Savannah river, and is at your service for the purpose 
indicated by Brigadier -General Benham in his inter- 
view with me yesterday. 

I am, General, respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 3d, 1862. 

Acting Master A. S. G.^rdner, Commanding United States 
Steamer Pettit, Port Royal: 

Sir: — You will please proceed to Beaufort and 
remain until to-morrow morning, when you will return 
to this anchorage. 

My object in sending you up is for the protec- 
tion of certain American ladies now there, who, in 
consequence of the removal of a large number of 
troops from there, feel some apprehension in conse- 
quence. Should anything occur to alarm them, you 
will receive them on board. 

The Rev. Mr. French, one of the government 
agents, is acquainted with the object of your visit in 
the Pettit; but you will not speak of it, nor com- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 8$ 

municate the substance of these orders to any one 
else. 

You will give Mrs. General Hunter a passage to 
Beaufort if she desires it. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont. 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 4th, 1862. 

Commander P. Drayton, United States Steamer Pawnee, 
Senior Officer in Stono : 

Sir: — Your communications of May 30th and 
June 3d have been received, and it affords me pleasure 
to express my approbation of all your movements in 
Stono. 

Keep me advised as often as possible of your ope- 
rations, and of your wants. We shall endeavor to supply 
at once the articles asked for in your last communi- 
cation. 

I desire that your co-operation with the army shall 
be harmonious, rendering its forces all assistance in 
your power; but you will please keep yourself in com- 
munication with Major - General Hunter, except when 

he may not be present. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



1 86 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 7th, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding J. B. Creighton, United States 
Gunboat Ottawa, Beaufort : 

Sir : — On the receipt of your telegraphic message 
I dispatched the tug - boat Pettit with the ammunition 
asked for. 

Early this morning I went on shore, at Hilton 
Head, to hasten reinforcements to the aid of the army ; 
and was much pleased to learn that you had promptly 
and judiciously put your howitzer on board the Mer- 
cury, and dispatched her, under Lieutenant Irwin, to 
Port Royal ferry. Your whole conduct in this matter, 
when exciting rumors were constantly flying about, has 
met with my approbation. 

Since writing the above I have, by the return of 
the Pettit, received information that no rebels have 
crossed Port Royal ferry, and that your presence at 
Beaufort is no longer necessary to protect the town. 

You will therefore on the receipt of this commu- 
nication return with the Ottawa to this anchorage, leav- 
ing the Western World at Beaufort ; giving Lieutenant 
Law such instructions as your experience may sug- 
gest. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F, Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 18/ 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 8th, 1862. 

To Honorable Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — I have the honor to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of the Department's dispatch of the 15th ult, 
that a fair proportion of prizes should be sent to 
Boston. 

During the winter, owing to the difficulty of ac- 
cess to Philadelphia, from ice in the Delaware, most of 
the vessels taken were sent to New York ; and apart 
from this, the stringent rules from the Department 
governing prizes, suggested that the vessels seized 
should be taken northward in the least possible time. 

I may add in conclusion that Upton, with other 
writers on the law of prizes, expressly directs that the 
captured vessels should be sent to the nearest and 
most convenient port ; and in compliance with this 
rule, the prizes have been sent to Philadelphia and 
New York. 

The increased distance to Boston, the great intri- 
cacy of navigation around the shoals, and the difficulty 
of getting back the prize crews, have hitherto pre- 
vented me from directing any of the captured vessels 
being sent to that port. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



1 88 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 9th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I would respectfully ask the Department to 
furnish the vessels in this squadron, commanded by 
volunteer officers, with signal-books. 

At the beginning of this rebellion the Depart- 
ment wisely withheld them; but I submit that the 
necessity for this caution no longer exists, and that 
this apparently invidious distinction, which has given 
rise to much unpleasant feeling among these officers, 
should cease. 

Much inconvenience has arisen from it, particularly 
among the vessels blockading off Charleston. 

The names of the vessels to be supplied are the 
Hale, Western World, Ellen, H. Andrews, Restless, On- 
ward, Roebuck, Gem of the Sea, Relief, Courier, Uncas, 
Madgie, Patroon, Blunt, Hope, Planter, and Shepherd 
Knapp. 



Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C, June 9th, 1862. 

Captain A. A. Harwood, Chief of Bureau of Ordnance, etc., 
Washington : 

Sir: — I have the pleasure to acknowledge the 
receipt of the Bureau's communication of the 2d inst., 
and desire to express my thanks for its prompt atten- 
tion to the wants of this squadron. The articles to 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 89 

be forwarded are much wanted, and will be highly 
valued. 

At one time I thought the Bureau was sending 
more ammunition than could be needed ; but I under- 
rated what was necessary to cover troops ; and within 
a few days my forces in Stono, under Commander 
Drayton, consumed an enormous quantity in driving 
the enemy from a base line of operations which our 
troops desire to occupy, and in keeping the latter com- 
fortable, who seem most so when the shelling is 
going on. 

Commander Drayton's own experience, and my in- 
structions, will keep down this undue expenditure of 
ammunition all in our power ; for I fear more its 
effect on the guns, to say nothing of weakening the 
moral effect, than any deficiency of supply, — thanks to 
the Bureau. 

The Ottawa came in last night here, to coal, with 
her Parrott gun disabled in the vent, of which I will 
make a more specific report. Fortunately I had one 
left of those previously sent. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 9th, 1862. 

Hon. J. U. Grimes, United States Senate, 
Washington, D. C. : 

My Dear Sir : — I often have the impulse to write 
to you on professional items of moment, as they spring 
up, knowing your interest in the efficiency of the ser- 
vice, and your desire to promote its welfare, but I 
rarely have leisure or rest from my current work. 



190 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I drop a line now, not to touch upon the prin- 
ciple involved of restoring officers to the navy who 
resigned from it before the breaking out of the Re- 
bellion, — I fancy you and I do not differ materially 
on that point, — but to state all that may be said in 
reference to individual cases, under an imperative sense 
of justice. 

There are two officers in this fleet of rare merit, 
whether judged in the line of their professional knowl- 
edge, of their intellectual and general intelligence, or 
in their bearing as gentlemen. They were both in the 
action of the 7th of November, and both distinguished 
themselves. They have been in various expeditions 
since, and several times under fire ; one of them. Act- 
ing Lieutenant Watmough, when in China, at the cap- 
ture of the Barrier Forts, under Captain, now Flag 
Officer, Foote, was conspicuous for his gallantry ; both 
cases have points of resemblance which entitle them 
to your kind consideration, and which, I think, give 
each great individuality : — 

1st. They both resigned after cruises, not on re- 
ceiving orders after a leave, 

2d. The interregnum between their resignation and 
return to the service as Acting Lieutenants was not 
over the ordinary time given as leave and shore-duty. 

3d. They came forward instantly, and at the dark 
hour, and made no terms. I was very glad to avail 
myself, while in command of the Philadelphia Navy 
Yard, of the offer of Lieutenant Watmough's services, 
whom I immediately dispatched with a battery and 
some seamen to the Susquehanna river, to cover the 
troops who were then being transported to Annapolis, 
where, while so bravely and energetically employed 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. I9I 

yourself in furthering the same object, you may have 
met him, on board the Maryland or elsewhere. 

Lieutenant Barnes left his business and went over 
to the Navy Yard at New York, and asked for any 
service, and was gladly received by the Commandant 
and placed on board this ship. 

4th. Both have been in active service ever since, 
Watmough, after serving all summer on the blockade, 
obtained a command, which he wore out, and obtained 
another ; both inferior in themselves, but which he 
made efficient. Barnes commanded the Hale, at the 
affair of Port Royal ferry, on ist of January, having 
before commanded a main deck division on this ship, 
at the capture of the forts. 

I will merely add that it is because I am op- 
posed to an indiscriminate return to the navy of every 
one simply because they may have served during this 
war, that I have felt impelled to bear this testimony. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June loth, 1862. 

Commander J. B. Marchand, United States Steamer 
James Adger, Charleston, S. C. : 

Sir : — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your 
communication of the 29th ult., detailing the operations 
of your second reconnoissance with the gunboats up the 
Stono river, under my order of the 24th, with the 
gratifying intelligence that you had unmolested control 
of the river from the sea to the firm land, and could 
insure a safe transit to the army across the same. 



192 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I beg you to receive my commendation for the 
successful manner in which you performed this ser- 
vice ; removing as it did some very unfounded and un- 
pleasant reports of the doings of the rebels, and the 
falling back of the gunboats. 

In the same communication, I regret to find that 
you express " deep mortification" that Commander Dray- 
ton had come to supersede you in command of the 
vessels, at a time when some credit might be obtained 
in safely passing the army across, etc. 

I have considered you as commanding, for the mo- 
ment, the largest of the detached divisions of this fleet, 
as it is the most important, and is so considered by the 
Navy Department, of the blockading force off Charleston. 

I refrained, so long as circumstances enabled me to 
do so without injustice, from relieving you by either 
Commander Prentiss or Goldsborough, your seniors ; 
further, when the reconnoissances of the Stono became 
necessary, I left it optional with you to take charge 
of it or not. After the first reconnoissance, you returned 
to your ship, very properly ; showing however that you 
considered the service as a mere collateral to your other 
duty. When matters had not gone well there, I directed 
you to return and re-establish them, which you did in 
a very creditable manner; and I think you should have 
appreciated this evidence of confidence on my part. 

Now, in reference to Commander Drayton, you wrote 
to me on the 26th, enclosing a communication from 
Lieutenant Commanding Collins, calling earnestly for 
additional gunboats with heavy rifles. You say, your- 
self, " It would be desirable to have more light - draft 
steamers in the Stono river." The Pawnee was the 
only vessel that could cross the bar with a more formi- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 93 

dable armament. Was I to take her commander out 
before sending her there ? 

If you had been able to go in with the James 
Adger, or expressed a desire to remain in Stono, and 
give up Charleston, I would have sent the Pawnee 
and Commander Drayton to command the force off 
Charleston. 

Having taken especial pains to equalize and appor- 
tion on this station to all the commanding officers 
what they might deem desirable duty, so far as it was 
possible, having in view the character of the vessels, 
whether sailing ships, steamers, side - wheel or screw, 
and above all the draft of water, I am not insensible 
to such a remark as the one I have quoted above 
from your communication of the 29th ultimo. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June loth, 1862. 

Commander P. Drayton, United States Ship Pawnee, 
Senior Officer in Stono River, S. C. : 

Sir : — I have your interesting reports of May 
30th and June 3d. The former I enclosed to the 
Department by the Bienville ; the latter I will forward 
by the next opportunity. 

I approve your course of procedure, but must 
enjoin upon you no unnecessary expenditure of am- 
munition ; not alone in reference to our supplies of 
such, but on account of the guns, to say nothing of 
weakening the moral effect on the enemy. I know 
13 



194 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

your experience has already suggested how difficult 
it is to satisfy troops on this head when co-operating 
with them. 

If you can spare a gunboat for the Charleston 
blockade, please dispatch one there. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June loth, 1862. 

Commander G. A. Prentiss, United .States Ship .\lbatross, 
Georgetown : 

Sir : — I received your very interesting and satis- 
factory communication of the 25th inst, detailing your 
proceedings in Winyau Bay, your visit to Georgetown, 
and the account of the Wacamau, which I immedi- 
ately transmitted to the Department. This whole pro- 
ceeding meets my entire approbation, and particularly 
your forbearance in not landing at Georgetown, as the 
result would not have been commensurate with the 
risk. 

I was sorry to take the Norwich from your force, 
but Iflie pressure on the blockade at Charleston, and 
the necessity for gunboats in the Stono river, com- 
pelled me to send her to Charleston. 

I now dispatch in her stead the Western World, 
Lieutenant Commanding R. L. Law. She is an effi- 
cient vessel, has a formidable battery, and of light 
draft. I send up also a coal schooner. 

It would give me pleasure to come up, and see 
for myself the result of your operations, but the calls 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. I95 

upon me here render it impossible at this moment; 
I will endeavor to do so a little later. 
I send your mails, etc. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 

P, S. — I send back in the Western World Mr. 
Updegrove, the pilot whom you sent here by the Norwich. 
He is of no use anywhere except in the waters of 
Winyau Bay. He should be paid for any service 
rendered in this way. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June nth, 1862. 

Colonel N. W. Brown, Headquarters, 
Hilton Head: 

Colonel: — I received in the night your commu- 
nication of the loth, enclosing one from Lieutenant- 
Colonel Beaver, reporting a certain number of boats 
and a rebel force at the White House, opposite Pinck- 
ney Island, with your request for an armed tug. 

Two gunboats sailed in the evening for Stono and 
Georgetown. Of the two tugs constantly required for 
the work of this squadron, only one is armed, and that 
one now undergoing repairs. On the other I am putting 
some howitzers, and sending her to make a recon- 
noissance around Pinckney Island, where she may pick 
up the boats ; but she cannot remain to guard the 
pickets, as she is required here, and is not properly 
armed for that service. 

I am very respectfully, Colonei, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



196 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June nth, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — Enclosed the Department will find a com- 
munication from Lieutenant Commanding Ammen, of 
the Seneca, reporting the death of Lieutenant John G. 
Sproston, the executive officer of that vessel. 

The man Huston, whose capture was deemed im- 
portant, was a guerrilla chief of desperate character ; 
too many of whom are still left in Florida. He had 
participated in the ambuscade on the boats of the 
Penguin and Andrews, in the Mosquito Inlet, when two 
officers and five men were killed. 

A contraband who had acted as pilot on that occa- 
sion, and was wounded and taken prisoner, this man 
hung to a tree, and boasted of it. 

After being wounded, Huston's life was spared by 
the sudden interposition of his wife. 

Lieutenant Sproston was an able, brave, and de- 
voted officer, from the State of Maryland. He had come 
under my observation on the China station, in 1858. 
He was distinguished while in the command of one 
of the boats which destroyed the rebel privateer under 
the guns of the Pensacola Navy Yard, in September, 
1861, and his whole conduct during this war, has been 
gallant and meritorious. I consider him a great loss 
to this fleet, and to the service. 

His remains will be forwarded by the Arago. May 
I ask the Department to have them sent to Baltimore. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 1 97 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June nth, 1862. 

Captain C. E. Fuller, Assistant Quartermaster, U. S. A., 
Hilton Head: 

Sir: — I have received a communication from 
Lieutenant Commanding Rhind, referring to vessels 
arriving at North Edisto for the purpose of selling 
goods, which are neither army transports nor connect- 
ed with the Quartermaster's Department, and exhibit- 
ing, as authority for doing so, a paper issuing from 
the Quartermaster's Department, and approved by the 
General in command, enjoining all Government vessels 
to let them pass unmolested. 

I have to state that all such vessels will require 
a pass from me, as no military authority can give 
instructions to the vessels of my command in any of 
the waters blockaded by the ships of this squadron. 

Lieutenant Commanding Rhind has very properly 
referred the matter to me, and I have intimated to him 
that in accordance with the general order, a copy of 
which is enclosed, army transports and all vessels 
connected with the Quartermaster's Department are to 
pass without any interference on his part ; but that 
no other vessel will be permitted to enter or remain 
at North Edisto, without authority from myself or a 
regular clearance from a collector. 

I shall give like instructions to my officers at all 
places held by the vessels of this squadron. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



198 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 13th, 1862. 

Captain A. A. Harwood, Chief of Bureau of 
Ordnance, etc. : 

Sir: — When I addressed the Bureau by last mail, 
I did not believe that my apprehensions would be so 
soon verified as to the giving way of some of our 
ordnance under its constant use. 

Enclosed please find certain extracts from Com- 
mander Drayton's official reports, who is conducting 
the operations of the gunboats in Stono river and its 
tributaries. 

I shall replace, so soon as I can, the Parrott guns 
out of order, by those on board the sailing ships on 
the blockade, which have been but little used ; but 
this is attended with delay and difficulty, having no 
light transports to cross the bars. 

The Bureau will perceive the necessity of hurry- 
ing forward others, say twenty-pound Parrotts for the 
regular gunboats. The two thirty-pounder Parrott rifles 
announced in the Bureau's letter of June 2d will answer 
for the Ellen. I hope these and the two one-hundred- 
pound Parrott rifles are on their way ; for it is more 
than probable that when the rebels find the army is 
not advancing on James Island, they will bring some 
heavy guns against the gunboats, and may give us 
trouble. 

Some vessels of the squadron are still furnished 
with smooth-bore muskets; they complain much of 
this ; a vessel like the Ellen, for example, that goes 
everywhere, is so much exposed in these inland waters. 
She recently felt herself helpless in returning a sharp 
fire from rifles, until she could bring her guns to bear. 

Commander Drayton complains that while he has 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. I99 

an eighty-pounder which he is told not to use, the new 
one sent out has no shell for it. 

All these matters, so important in themselves, and 
which give me so much concern, I think demonstrate 
the importance of having an ordnance officer attached 
to this squadron. All returns, and the actual condi- 
tion of cannon, arms, etc., would be made so much 
more satisfactorily to the Bureau. I applied early for 
such an officer, informed the Bureau I had done so, 
named a lieutenant who was seeking service, but it 
produced nothing. 

The Bureau in its letter speaks of the ordnance 
depot at Port Royal, and the officer in charge of the 
ordnance stores on board the Vermont. Why, the lat- 
ter ship has not even a gunner ! and but for the 
intelligence and devotion of Commander Rodgers to 
these matters, in addition to his own duties, and the 
energies of my young flag lieutenant, this department 
would be in confusion. 

I submit, respectfully, whether the ordnance should 
not be sent forward by a steamer. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 14th, 1862. 

Commander J. B. Marchand, 

Senior Officer off Charleston, S. C. : 

Sir : — I enclose a copy of the last dispatch from 
the Department in reference to the contemplated run- 
ning of the blockade by various steamers from Nassau. 

I presume after the last blow, so late in the season, 
we may look for continued settled weather for a time. 



200 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

In view of this, I wish you would consider the propriety 
of closing in the ships a little more. I am aware 
there are two sides to this question, and I leave the 
thing to your discretion and judgment, from your better 
knowledge of the localities. 

Will you also think if there would be any ad- 
vantage in having a ship under Cape Romain ? Lieu- 
tenant Commanding Upshur thinks there would be. 

The Flag will follow the Flambeau to-morrow to 
report to you. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. DuPoNT, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Rciyal Harbor, S. C, June 14th, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding \. C. Rhind, United States Steamer 
Crusader, North Edisto : 

Sir : — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your 
communications of the ist and loth insts. 

I am glad that the Planter has proved so useful 
a transport, and that we have again been able so 
materially to aid the army, especially at a critical time, 
when its generals were almost helpless for want of 
transports. 

Your course in regard to vessels entering North 
Edisto for trade exhibiting passes only from the mili- 
tary authorities, tncets my approval. Enclosed you will 
find a copy of a communication from myself to Cap- 
tain Fuller, the Chief Quartermaster at Hilton Head 
on this matter, to which as yet no answer has been 
returned. 

No vessel, unless an army transport, or connected 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 201 

with the Quartermaster's department, can enter and 
remain at North Edisto, without a pass from me or 
a regular clearance from a collector. When any such 
vessel arrives, order her to leave the harbor and get 
a pass if she wishes to trade. 

Enclosed you will find an order detaching Acting 
Master Collins from your ship. Please make out a 
more formal report of his case, that I may forward 
it with a dispatch recommending his dismissal from the 
service. 

I understand there is a good deal of labor in- 
volved in supplying the Planter with wood. Would 
it not be well to organize a body of contrabands for 
this work ? 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June i6th, 1862. 

Honorable Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have the honor to enclose a ver>' inter- 
esting and very graphic letter from Lieutenant Com- 
manding Truxton, of the Dale, giving, in strong and 
earnest words, the condition of many of these sea- 
islands in consequence of the withdrawal of the army 
forces to Stono. 

The Dale is anchored in St. Helena Sound, abreast 
of a fort on Otter Island, which until lately was oc- 
cupied by the troops of General Hunter ; while at the 
same time pickets were stationed on many of the ad- 
jacent islands to give notice of the approach of the 



202 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

rebels. In consequence of late projected movements, 
most of these forces have been transferred to Stono ; 
leaving only the Dale, a sailing vessel, to protect the 
contrabands remaining of choice on the plantations 
where many of them had been born. 

The rebels, through information given by a negro 
who had been employed by our army, became aware 
of the absence of the troops, and under this man's 
guidance, made a descent upon Mrs. Marsh's plantation, 
on Hutchinson's Island, surrounded the house, and with 
a ferocity characteristic, at all events, of this part of 
the South, murdered in cold blood the poor unfortu- 
nates, who were awakened from their slumbers to fall 
by the hands of the infuriated rebels. 

The Department will perceive by the narrative 
how much the gunboats are looked up to by the con- 
trabands, for their defence ; and how much feared by 
the enemy for attack. Even while engaged in firing 
upon frightened, unarmed blacks, their constant dread 
was of the ship. 

But, while most desirous to afford protection in 
all cases, I must earnestly press upon the Department 
the necessity of sending me more steam vessels of 
light draft, and, at the same time, of calling the atten- 
tion of the Government to the urgent need of more 
troops on this part of the coast. 

A good portion of my force is now in the Stono 
river, covering the army ; and to do this, I am neces- 
sarily obliged to take these vessels from their legiti- 
mate duty of blockading, and at a time when, from 
information derived from the Department, a concerted 
attempt is about being made to break the blockade 
either by stratagem or force. 

The army for months past has had control, in a 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 203 

manner, of many of the sea -islands in this vicinity, 
extending to North Edisto. The contrabands have 
remained quietly there, cultivating the plantations un- 
der our protection ; and it seems to me that the Gov- 
ernment is bound by every principle of justice and 
policy to shield them from these barbarous inroads. 

I think this is a fitting occasion to bear testimony 
to the zeal and earnestness ever displayed by Lieutenant 
Commanding Truxton since he has had charge of the 
waters of St. Helena Sound. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June i8th, 1862. 

Commander E. G. Parrott, United States Steamer 
Augusta, Port Roj'al : 

Sir: — When ready, you will please proceed to 
Wassaw Sound and relieve Commander Goldsborough, 
of the Florida, at present in charge of those waters. 

He will give you such local information and the 
results of his experience as may be desirable for you 
to have. 

The main object of occupying this sound is for 
an inside blockade, as it is one of the approaches to 
Savannah. It is no longer probable that any attempt 
will be made from without. The rebels however have 

three steamers yet in Savannah, — the , mounting 

two guns ; the , mounting two guns ; and the 

Fingal, mounting four. By Wilmington river they could 
avoid Pulaski, and reach . the sound ; but the deserters 
and contrabands report them as laid up. Still, a proper 
vigilance should be kept up. 



204 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

A boat's crew and officers captured from the 
Sumter, and my general order of the 2d inst., will 
call to mind the necessity of not letting boats go off 
on pleasure parties. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June i8th, 1862. 

Commander P. Draytox, United States Steamer Pawnee, 
Senior Officer, Stono : 

Sir : — Your several reports since those of May 
30th and June 3d, already acknowledged, have been re- 
ceived, and I beg to say your operations in the Stono, 
with the division of gunboats under your command, have 
been very satisfactory to me, and creditable also to you 
and the officers and men employed. 

You will perceive by a general order from Major- 
General Hunter, issued on the 14th inst., that your 
operations have been equally gratifying to him and the 
army present. 

I am compelled to withdraw a portion of your 
force, for I must have the Hale and Henry Andrews, on 
account of their draft, for operations in Georgetown, 
S. C. The Norwich will replace one of them. 

I have information from the Department of an or- 
ganized intention to force the blockade, on a large scale, 
either by stratagem or force ; and that portion of the 
squadron now in the Stono is withdrawn from my own 
legitimate and pressing duties. 

If the generals near you are disposed to demur, 
please let them know this ; but the vessels must be sent 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 20$ 

immediately to Georgetown, to report to Commander 
Prentiss. 

In consequence of having no small vessel to watch 
the Santee, the Seabrook steamer has escaped to Nassau, 
where I think she will carry such information as will 
direct a portion of the steam fleet waiting there to 
Georgetown ; besides, I have other important duty for 
Commander Prentiss, and he must have the light- draft 
vessels to execute it. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 

P. S. — The Hale and Henry Andrews will first re- 
port to Commander Marchand of the James Adger, off 
Charleston, receiving from him certain marines to ac- 
company these steamers to Georgetown. 

S. F. D. P. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June i8th, 1862. 

Commander G. A. Prentiss, Unked States Steamer 
Albatross, Georgetown, S. C. : 

Sir: — I have your communication of the 12th 
inst, detailing your operations since your previous re- 
port. These are satisfactory. I regret of course the 
escape of the Seabrook; but this could not be avoided 
with your small force, and it was impossible for me 
to increase it. 

I am much impressed by your suggestions in ref- 
erence to the burning of the railroad bridge, and the 
erection of a battery on Black river; and notwith- 
standing the great demand upon the light-draft vessels 



206 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

in Stono and elsewhere, I am ordering the Hale and 
H. Andrews (7^ ft.), to proceed immediately and report 
to you. 

These steamers will be accompanied by some 
marines from the ships off Charleston ; but they must 
be returned to their respective vessels as soon as yo^ 
have finished operations in the Santee. 

If you can destroy that bridge, it will be a very 
handsome thing. 

You will receive and protect all contrabands that 
come in, and send them, if most convenient, to Port 
Royal. 

I have noted especially your report of the condi- 
tion of your crew, so many of whom are over their 
term of enlistment, and also the position of the men 
from the Cumberland and Congress. 

I can see no better way of meeting the emer- 
gency, and doing what is just to the men, than for 
you, so soon as you get through the operations on 
the Santee and elsewhere, to leave the senior officer 
in charge of the waters you are now holding, and pro- 
ceed to Philadelphia, get another crew, and return to 
your station. 

You will, therefore, do this without further orders, 
after reporting your proceedings to me. 

The capture of any rebel property, such as cotton 
and rice, is proper. I would not destroy, however, 
buildings or houses, unless used by the rebels for 
stationing pickets, or any other military purpose which 
may be annoying. This of course does not apply to 
the railroad bridge. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 20/ 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 21st, 1862. 

To Major - General D. Hunter, commanding 
Department of the South : 

General : — I have the honor to acknowledge the 
receipt of your communication of this date in reference 
to the conduct of the master of the steamer Delaware, 
which it became my duty to bring to your notice. 

The very prompt and thorough action on your 
part, vindicating so completely the military principles 
and proprieties insisted upon on all sides, induces me to 
ask, as a favor, if Captain Cannon is satisfied of his 
misconduct and ready to admit it to Lieutenant Com- 
manding Rhind, that you may not deem it necessary 
to discharge him from the public employ. I am the 
more disposed to make this suggestion that I learn 
the master of the Delaware has been a very efficient 
man in the line of his duty ; and as he will be so 
well instructed as to his future course by the em- 
phatic manner in which you ha.ve been pleased to view 
his conduct, I think this may be done with propriety. 

Gratified and sympathizing in all you have ex- 
pressed as to the harmony and union which should 
direct the two branches of the national service, I 
am, General, with great respect, your most obedient 
servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



208 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

(Private and Confidential.) 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 23d, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretarj^ of the Navj', 
Washingto"n : 

My Dear Sir : — As recent operations and results 
on St. John's Island in no manner pertained to my com- 
mand, I have no official report to make of them, but 
will simply observe here that the gunboats in the Stono 
rendered all the assistance in their power, and I believe 
were very important by their presence alone, during the 
retreat of the troops. 

I enclose for your peru.sal the copy of a very inter- 
esting private letter from Commander Drayton, which it 
strikes me you would like to see ; but you will perceive 
he expresses himself to me without reserve, though with 
his usual calm and just spirit, and I beg you to con- 
sider it confidential. 

With warm regards to Mr. Fox, I am, my dear sir, 
with great respect. 

Faithfully yours, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Roj'al Harbor, S. C, June 24th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report that the Gem 
of the Sea, Acting Volunteer Lientenant J. B. Baxter 
commanding, captured a schooner called the Mary 
Stewart, near the entrance of the South Santee. She 
was from Nassau, and purported as usual to be bound 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 209 

for St. John's, N. B. ; her cargo principally salt. She 
was sent to New York. 

About two o'clock in the morning of the 20th 
inst. the Keystone State, Commander Le Roy, captured 
the English schooner Sarah, attempting to run out of 
Charleston. She belonged to Nassau, and had on board 
one hundred and fifty-six bales of cotton. 

At daylight the same morning, the Alabama, Com- 
mander Lanier, captured a small schooner, whose name 
was ascertained to be the Catiline, of Charleston. She 
had on board thirty-three bales of cotton. 

Both these schooners were sent to Philadelphia 
for adjudication. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 25th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I enclose another interesting report from 
Lieutenant - Commanding Rhind, of further operations in 
North Edisto. 

On the 2 1st inst, with the Crusader and the 
Planter, piloted by Robert Small, he ran up North 
Edisto river into Wadnelaw Sound as far as Simmons' 
Bluff, — which is on the mainland. 

The rebels had an encampment there, and some 
artillery, but made no use of the latter. A few broad- 
sides from the Crusader dispersed the enemy ; and 
Lieutenant- Commanding Rhind, on landing with a com- 
pany of the 55th Pennsylvania Volunteers, under com- 
14 



2IO OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

mand of Captain Burnett, met with no resistance. About 
thirty tents and some cabins used as quarters were fired, 
and a few muskets brought away. We had no casual- 
ties. 

The Department has noticed how active Lieutenant - 
Commanding Rhind has been while holding the waters 
of North Edisto, but I respectfully submit that he 
should have a better command sent to him when the 
Department can do so, for I think he has justly earned 
one. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 27th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — I enclose two communications; one from 
Commander Marchand, and the other from Commander 
Le Roy. 

It appears that between two and three o'clock of 
the morning of the 23d, two steamers attempted to run 
the blockade ; one, a screw steamer, supposed to be 
the Hero, and under British colors, succeeded in pass- 
ing our line, and in entering Mafifitt's Channel. At 
daylight she was observed to be aground near the 
Moultrie House, close to a battery of four guns, and 
protected also by the guns of Sumter, and the bat- 
tery on Cumming's Point. 

The Seneca approached as near as she could with 
safety, and fired several shells, which however fell short ; 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 211 

whilst those of the rebels, from their rifled cannon, 
passed 300 or 400 yards over and beyond the Seneca. 

The other steamer was a side-wheel, and proved 
to be the Nashville, now known as the Thomas S. 
Wragge. Finding it impossible to enter, she stood 
out to sea. followed by the Keystone State, Flag, and 
James Adger. The two latter steamers, however, soon 
gave up the pursuit, finding it useless ; but the Key- 
stone State continued the chase during the entire day, 
lightening the vessel in every possible way, and to- 
wards evening was rapidly gaining on her; but dark- 
ness coming on, with thick rain squalls, the Nashville 
succeeded in eluding pursuit. The Keystone State 
chased her over 300 miles, and is the only vessel in 
my squadron that can compete with her in speed. 

It is unnecessary for me to state to the Depart- 
ment how much I regret this occurrence ; but having 
myself visited the Charleston station, and given per- 
sonal attention to the proper placing of the blockading 
vessels, I am satisfied that no improvement can be 
made in this respect, and in justice to the officers off 
there, I do not hesitate to say that greater vigilance 
could not be exercised, 

I have already informed the Department that an 
arc of thirteen miles has to be covered; and although 
it might be supposed that eight steamers and four 
sailing vessels could cover this, nautical men know 
that a ship may pass within two cables' length, on an 
ordinary dark night, without being seen. I should 
have had full twenty vessels off Charleston but for the 
necessary operations in Stono and Georgetown, S. C. ; 
and if the Department wishes to render the running 
of this blockade impossible, I must respectfully ask for 
more steamers. Sailing vessels are of no use ; in- 



212 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

deed, I am afraid they serve as beacons to the enemy, '^ 

being seen so much further than the steamers. 

In this conclusion I may refer to a dispatch from 
the Department received last evening, enclosing a com- 
munication from a Mr. Adams to the Assistant Secretary 
of State, speaking of the escape from Charleston of the 
British steamer Economist. 

This vessel got out of Charleston when most of 
the blockading force was engaged in the expedition 
southward, resulting in the possession of the whole 
coast as far as Mosquito Inlet, and when there were 
comparatively few ships off Charleston. The details, 
however, as given in Mr. Adams's communication, are as 
absurd as the story that the Wabash was there. These 
statements are simply untrue. 

Since writing the above I have again looked at 
the papers, and observe that the individual who ad- 
dresses the Assistant Secretary of State is not a 
member of the United States Legation. He seems to 
have volunteered this information, which the Under Sec- 
retary apparently did not consider worthy of notice. 

As the officers off Charleston are ceaseless in their 
vigilance, I have already asked the Department not to 
permit itself to be disturbed by idle stories and false- 
hoods told at Nassau and in England, derogatory to 
them, to suit rebel purposes. 

I enclose copies of two letters from Mr. Whiting, 
consul at Nassau, which Flag Officer Lardner may not 
have forwarded. Commander Stellwagen informs me 
that H. B. M. Ship Bulldog is convoying these vessels 
out to sea, on their way to break the blockade. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 



213 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 27th, 1862. 

Commander S. \V. Godon, United States Ship Mohican, 
Tort Royal, S. C. : 

Sir: — You will proceed with the Mohican, under 
your command, to Fernandina, and receive from the 
Dawn, Lieutenant Commanding Clary, such portion of 
her crew as belonged to the Cumberland, the crew of 
that ship having been paid off at home. 

You will then proceed off Stono and communi- 
cate with Commander Drayton, receiving from him all 
men whose times are out before the 20th of July; 
doing the same at Charleston, where Commander Mar- 
chand is the senior officer. 

Should any men remain, after filling the vacancies 
in the different ships of those who were not in the 
Mohican on the coast of Africa, including marines, you 
will transfer them all to the James Adger. Be par- 
ticular about accounts and descriptive lists. 

Having performed this duty, you will proceed to 
Philadelphia, and report your return, in obedience to 
this order, to the commandant of the Philadelphia 
station, and through the latter to the Secretary of the 
Navy, to whom I will write by next mail, or perhaps 
have a letter for him to meet you off Stono or 
Charleston. 

I avail myself of this opportunity to say that I 
am depriving myself of the services of the Mohican 
and her gallant officers and crew, with extreme regret ; 
but to expose the latter to a third summer on this 
coast, after having passed the two previous ones in 
Africa, would amount in time of war almost to cruelty ; 
and it is because I have heard no complaint from 
them that I am the more inclined to yield to the 
just necessities of the case. 



214 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Thanking yourself especially for your indefatiga- 
ble zeal and energy in the discharge of your duties 
while in the command of the Mohican, and of divisions 
of this squadron separated from my flag, I am, re- 
spectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 28th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report to the depart- 
ment that the Bienville, Commander J. R. M. Mullany, 
arrived at Port Royal this morning to rejoin this squad- 
ron. 

On her way she captured yesterday the schooner 
Morning Star, showing English colors, with a cargo of 
salt, acids, copperas, etc., about twenty-five miles south- 
east of Wilmington. 

Commander Mullany has informed the Department 
of the particulars. 

Respectfully, etc. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 215 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 28th, 1862. 

To Honorable Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have determined, though reluctantly, to 
send the Mohican to the North. 

Her engine is in such a condition that the vessel 
cannot be used for outside blockade ; in addition to 
which, her officers and most of her crew have been 
for two summers on the coast of Africa, and after 
their return from that station gallantly volunteered to 
join this squadron. 

The terms of many of the men will expire early 
in July, and as the officers and crew have always exhib- 
ited a constant readiness in the performance of any duty 
required of them, I am induced to show them my 
appreciation of their long and faithful services, and 
have therefore ordered the Mohican to Philadelphia to 
be paid off and repaired. 

All men and some officers who have not been 
on the coast of Africa, I have taken out to relieve 
those on the various ships whose times are expiring. 

She will take home fourteen men from the Dawn, 
who were part of the crew of the Cumberland. 

The arrival of the South Carolina, and the return 
of the Bienville in good order, have reconciled me to 
this necessary step. 

I deem it but just to say that Commander Godon, 
his officers and crew, have ever been ready and zealous 
in the discharge of their duties. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



2l6 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 30th, 1862. 

Captain C. O. Boutelle, U. S. Steamer Bibb, 

Assistant Superintendent United States Coast Survey : 

Sir : — You will proceed with the United States 
Steamer Bibb, under your command, to Hampton 
Roads, stopping on your way at North Edisto, Stono, 
and Charleston, communicating with the commanding 
officers at those places, and delivering all mails and 
stores put under your charge. 

It will give me pleasure, in transmitting your 
various reports to the Secretary of the Navy, to call 
attention to the varied and continuous services of 
the vessels of the Coast Survey since they have been 
attached to this squadron ; and particularly to the zeal 
which you have always exhibited, not only in the 
execution of the duties pertaining to the Coast Sur- 
vey, but in aiding the important war operations on 
this coast, by assisting with your best knowledge the 
gunboats in crossing the various bars and entering 
the different inlets, regardless whether they were to be 
brought under fire or not. 

You will please convey to those associated with 
you my appreciation and commendation of their ser- 
vices, which I purpose to bring to the notice of the 
Superintendent of the Coast Survey. 

The buoy vessel S. C. Steele will be left in charge, 
for the present, of Commander Drayton, the senior 
officer in Stono, until I can give further directions. 

Respectfully, etc., 

' S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 21/ 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 30th, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding A. C. Rhind, U. S. S. 
Crusader, North Edisto : 

Sir: — I have to acknowledge your two interest- 
ing communications of the 23d inst., giving an account 
of your expedition to Simmons's Bluff, and dispersing a 
rebel encampment there. I have forwarded a copy of 
your report to the Department, with a dispatch which 
I closed with the following paragraph : " The Depart- 
ment has noticed how active Lieutenant Commanding 
Rhind has been while holding the waters of the North 
Edisto ; but I respectfully submit that he should have 
a better command sent to him when the Department 
can do so, for I think he has justly earned one." 

I enclose to you a general order of Major- Gen- 
eral Hunter, dated June 21st, arising out of the con- 
duct of the captain of the Delaware. 

This case was brought to the attention of Briga- 
dier-General Benham immediately after the occurrence, 
but no action was taken on his part. 

I then reported the matter to General Hunter, 
who acted promptly and effectively, as you will per- 
ceive by reading his communication to me, a copy of 
which is enclosed. Brigadier- General Benham had 
evidently never mentioned the occurrence to him. 

Presuming that it will be more agreeable to you 
to come to Port Royal for your stores, I will en- 
deavor to send a vessel to relieve you in time. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



2 1 8 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 30th, 1862. 

Commander John J. Almv, United States Steamer South 
Carolina, Port Royal : 

Sir: — You will please proceed with the United 
States steamer South Carolina, under your command, off" 
Mosquito Inlet, and take charge of the blockade there. 

On your way look out for any steamers approach- 
ing the coast, particularly such as may be steering square 
on, as we are aware that there are a good number 
now, or lately, at Nassau, prepared to run the blockade. 

You will find the Wyandotte off" Mosquito, and 
whenever it becomes necessary, either from want of 
provisions or other cause, you can send the Wyandotte 
to this port. 

The bar there is a shallow one ; before the re- 
bellion it was resorted to for live oak by the United 
States contractors, and a large quantity was burned by 
the rebels after our visit. My object in blockading it 
is that arms have been transhipped at Nassau into 
small vessels landed at New Smyrna, on the inlet. 
The steamer Cecile, drawing six feet, landed last winter 
a cargo of Enfield rifles. 

I shall communicate with you once, between the 
supply ships, by one or the other of the pilot boats, 
and forward your mails. 

You will receive herewith the general orders and 
various papers connected with squadron duties. 

The station you are to occupy is important, but 
a very dreary one, and I will relieve you in a reason- 
able time. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DUPONT. 2I9 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 3d, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding J. W. A. Nicholson, 
Senior Officer, St. John's : 

SiK : — I have received your communication of the 
27th ult., with its enclosures. 

Your answer to the colonel commanding the rebels 
meets my approval. Of course the town of Jackson- 
ville is safe so long as the gunboats are not fired 
upon from its vicinity. 

In reference to the contraband question, my in- 
structions are to surrender none, no matter whether 
the parties asking for them profess to be loyal or 
not. There has been so much abuse of this privi- 
lege that it can no longer be granted. A glaring 
instance of it occurred in the case of the murderer 
Huston, whose slaves were returned to him on the 
false pretence of a neighbor that they belonged to a 
Union man. Even supposing the claimant may be 
loyal, yet if he takes his slave among the rebels, he 
is liable to be seized at any moment and put to work 
in erecting fortifications against our forces. 

Should any further applications be made to you, 
ascertain the name of the party applying, provided he 
satisfies you of his loyalty, and the names of the 
persons claimed, and enter the same on the log-book, 
informing the claimant that the Government will deter- 
mine the case after the war is over. 

I have read the paper forwarded by you, written 
by certain of the officers of the Patroon, and Acting 
Master Seller's denial of the charges made. It is 
impossible for me, situated as the vessels are in St. 
John's river, to institute a court of inquiry, you being 
the only commissioned officer there ; but I desire that 



220 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

you should make an informal investigation of the 
matter, and report the facts to me. 

Enclosed are the papers referred to, which you 
will return to me with your report. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 4th, 1862. 

Commander P. Drayton, ' 

Senior Officer in Stono river : 

Sir : — On the receipt of this order you will send 
at once to this port the Paul Jones and the Unadilla, 
the enemy having to-day made an attack on Port 
Royal Island, at various points, and something more 
serious being apprehended by the army. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 4th, 1862. 

Major-General D. Hunter, Commanding Department 
of the South : 

General: — From information just received from 
Brigadier-General Saxton of the enemy appearing to- 
day, I send an order to Commander Drayton to dis- 
patch at once two gunboats to this place. 

The new vessel, the Paul Jones, with a most for- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 221 

midable battery, and drawing but seven and a half feet, 
will sweep the Coosaw of all batteries that may be 
erected. 

Will you please forward the order if you are 
sending up. 

In haste, yours, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 5th, 1862. 

Commander J. R. Goldsborough, Senior Officer, 
St. Simon's Sound : 

Sir : — Having every reason to believe, from in- 
formation received from Acting Lieutenant Command- 
ing Watmough, that Ossebaw is resorted to by the 
rebels, and that a fort has been constructed on the 
Ogeechee river, I have determined to place the Potomska 
there for the present. 

On the receipt of this you will therefore order 
Acting Lieutenant Commanding Watmough to Ossebaw, 
to enforce the blockade of that Sound. I will send 
you another vessel as soon as I can. 

Lieutenant Commanding Watmough will use his 
best judgment in placing his vessel, as she will have 
to cover the entrances of both the Ogeechee and Ver- 
non rivers. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



222 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 3d, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — The most important of my late operations 
has been reported to the Department, viz., the quick 
seizure of Stono Inlet and river before the rebels could 
discover the very great military error they had com- 
mitted in abandoning the strong defences of those 
waters, protected as they were on the exterior by the 
dangerous shifting and shallow bar leading into them. 

The army determined to avail itself of this success- 
ful turning of all the forts in Charleston harbor, which 
presented so fine and proximate a base of operations. 

Under the cover of light vessels, including the 
Pawnee, which was bumped over the bar, the troops 
were landed on James Island, the firing being almost 
continuous for two days, and succeeded in obtaining 
secure positions ; the naval part of the operations 
having received the commendation of the commanding 
general, in an order which I have before transmitted. 

On the return of Major-General Hunter to Port 
Royal, an attempt was made in his absence, by a 
general advance of the army forces, to carry the rebel 
works at Secessionville, which it was thought were in 
unpleasant proximity to the camps. 

The effort was unsuccessful, and the troops fell 
back without being fired upon or followed, and re- 
turned to their lines without demoralization; but, I 
grieve to add, with a loss of killed, wounded, and 
missing, approaching seven hundred. 

This event was followed by an order for the 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 223 

evacuation of James Island, and of the works already- 
erected there. 

On hearing this, incidentally, I immediately dis- 
patched Commander C. R. P. Rodgers (who, in addi- 
tion to his duties as captain of this ship, has been 
discharging those of captain of the fleet), to Stono to 
see Commander Drayton, and ascertain the effect which 
this new order of things might produce on the naval 
force. 

I have the views of both these intelligent and 
experienced officers, based upon a local inspection of 
the important points involved ; and I purpose myself, 
though a short time ago I passed along all the points 
of my station, to visit them again in a few days. 

I have to thank the Department for the arrival 
of the Paul Jones, most opportunely for the protec- 
tion of the waters flowing into Port Royal harbor. 

Port Royal Island was attacked yesterday, in more 
than one point, and until I can get her or a vessel 
of light draft into the Coosaw, the soldiers and plan- 
tations will not be safe. * I have sent for her for this 
purpose. My impression is that a general order has 
been issued by the rebel authorities to carry on a 
guerilla warfare in all directions ; a matter not likely 
to produce important results, except the loss here and 
there of valuable lives, and a still greater absorption 
of my force. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



^- 



224 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 7th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — I have endeavored, through the many re- 
sources which the Department has sent me so Hberally, 
to make this station answer the purpose of supplying 
the wear and tear of this fleet, which necessarily re- 
quires so much refitting; and but very rarely have I 
despatched a vessel North for these objects. 

The Department, however, is well aware that the 
morale of a large body of men must be kept up in 
a long contest ; and I believe my watchfulness on this 
point, in retaining no man over his time, and in send- 
ing the ships home in turn, whenever without detri- 
ment to the service it could be done, has had a most 
happy effect. 

The crew of one vessel, however, has been for 
some time entitled to my consideration. The ship has 
been long over a year in commission, and the bulk 
of the men were enlisted some months before. She 
was in the action at Hatteras, blockaded Charleston in 
the summer of 1861, when no other vessels now in 
this squadron were even in commission, except the 
Pawnee and the Vandalia ; the latter of which was 
permitted to return last winter. I am speaking of the 
Wabash. 

I had indulged the hope that the progress of 
events here by this time would have authorized me 
to have asked the Department to have returned in her 
for a few days to recruit ; but while I find tliis im- 
possible, I do not at this particular moment find it 
impossible to spare the ship on public grounds, though 
exceedingly inconvenient. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 22$ 

I have therefore directed Commander Rodgers to 
proceed with the Wabash, on the 8th or 9th inst., to 
Philadelphia, and, with the permission of the Depart- 
ment, to let her crew have liberty. The men have 
never yet landed but to fight, in a period of over 
twelve months. 

I have determined to forego all repairs upon her. 
She must dispense with taking out her mainmast, or 
taking her machinery apart ; and I have to ask the 
Department to dispatch her immediately after the crew 
have had their run on shore, — say about the 5th or 
6th of August. 

The Wabash is my base of operations. The 
order, discipline, and effectiveness of both officers and 
crew enable her to perform the immense work re- 
quired in various ways for the whole squadron, and 
which can scarcely be understood even at the De- 
partment. I have, therefore, earnestly to request that 
the Department will be pleased to give Commander 
Rodgers orders to leave Philadelphia without having 
detached an officer or man. 

The steam frigates of her class being equally dis- 
tributed in all the Northern ports, at Portsmouth, Bos- 
ton, and New York, I have sent the Wabash to 
Philadelphia, where she was built, and where her crew 
will be less liable to be inveigled away by the high 
prices now given at other ports, in the merchant service. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



15 



226 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 8th, 1862. 

Commander J. R. Goldsborough, Senior Officer, 
St. Simon's : 

Sir: — The Rev. Mr. French and Mr. Fuller are 
Government agents to see to the welfare of the con- 
trabands. You will please receive these gentlemen as 
such, and afford them any facilities in your power in 
carrying out their philanthropic efforts, 

Mr. French has clothing for the colony on St. 
Simon's, and Mr. Fuller goes to see to the introduc- 
tion of the culture of the rutabaga. 

Will you let the Darlington wait for Mr. French ? 
He thinks he shall do all he desires in two days. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 8th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretarj- of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I enclose reports from Lieutenant Com- 
manding Creighton, of the Ottawa. The Department will 
perceive that the term of service of her crew expires 
in August, and she seems to be much disabled. I 
have to request that she be replaced by a vessel of 
her class. 

I regret to say that the vessels of the squadron 
are fast breaking down, while my requirements are in 
no wise lessened. 

The Flambeau has to be towed North. 

The Huron is rarely in order, and Commander 
Drayton reports her to-day as nearly broken down. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 22/ 

The Henry Andrews has broken her rudder. 

The Norwich has always to be repaired ; she is 
now here, with hot-well out of order, and deck-pumps 
all wrong; leaking badly in her bow. 

The Flag has been leaking badly ; strained by 
improper docking at Baltimore. Her commander re- 
ports an increase in her leak, and I have to with- 
draw her from Charleston for inside work. 

The Wyandotte is not safe outside any longer, 
and came near being lost. 

The Potomska is in a similar condition. 

The Pocahontas came in yesterday, entirely done 
up J when she lost her boats off Charleston in a 
gale, she had barely power to keep her from being 
wrecked herself 

The Roebuck is useless, and I am sending her 
home. 

The Fernandina has arrived. I mention these things, 
not to complain, but to explain. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



(Unofficial.) 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 8th, 1862. 

Rev. S. H. Tyng, D. D., New York : 

Rev. and Dear Sir : — I had the honor and grati- 
fication to receive yesterday your most kind letter of 
28th ult, as President of the National Freedmen's Re- 
lief Association of New York, for which please accept 
my thanks. 



228 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I am happy to think that I may have been able 
in any way to contribute towards the Christian and 
philanthropic efforts of those devoted men and women 
who are ameliorating the moral and physical condi- 
tion of a race deserted by those who owe their sub- 
stance to the sweat of their faces, and found by us 
in a most pitiable state. 

I think you have, however, quite overrated these 
services. A cordial sympathy in the work has proba- 
bly been mistaken for such. 

With grateful sense of your own kind expressions 
to me personally, I am, reverend and dear sir, with the* 
highest respect, your most obedient and humble servant, 

S. F. Du Pont. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 9th, 1862. 

Commander Charles Steedman, United States Steamer 
Paul Jones, Port Royal : 

Sir : — I desire a reconnoissance made of Ossebaw 
Sound, coast of Georgia. I believe it may be used as 
an exit from Savannah, by small vessels, through Ro- 
milly marshes, and one schooner, it is thought, has 
entered not long since. 

I learn there is a fort up the Ogeechee, and the 
Darlington saw two small steamers in that direction 
recently. 

Your can feel this fort with your long-range 
guns, and destroy it if you can ; but as there is no 
military operation involved, this must be done with 
sound discretion, and without unnecessary loss. 

I recommend your going in by way of Sapelo. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 229 

You will take the Potomska, Lieutenant Commanding 
Watmough. I have sent orders to this effect to Com- 
mander Goldsborough, but they have not reached him. 
You will be accompanied by the Unadilla from here, 
and will avail yourself of Mr. Godfrey, the master of 
the Darlington, as pilot ; but I wish the Darlington, 
as soon as you can spare him, to proceed to her des- 
tination. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off Charleston, July loth, 1862. 

Commander C. R. P. Rodgers, United States 
Ship Wabash : 

Sir : — The crew of this ship have never been 
on liberty since they were enlisted, extending back 
now to a year from last March and April. 

They have borne this privation with patriotic devo- 
tion, and without the slightest complaint ; and although 
I can ill spare the Wabash on public grounds, and 
whilst it is a matter of great personal inconvenience 
to me to shift my flag, still I have determined to 
send her to Philadelphia, that her men may have a 
few days recreation. 

You will therefore proceed with her to that port, 
reporting your arrival to the commandant of the naval 
station, and by letter through him to the Navy De- 
partment. 

Of course, once there, all orders for your return 
must emanate from higher authority. You are aware 
how necessary this ship is to me as a base of opera- 



230 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

tions ; and at a moment too when I have just learned 
the military force is to be reduced on this coast. I 
have asked the Department to dispatch her, without 
fail, from ist to 5th of August, and I am quite sure 
you will have everything ready to accomplish this if 
the order be given by the Department. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Off Charleston, July loth, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have the honor to forward the enclosed 
communication of Commander Marchand, referring prin- 
cipally to the capture of the steamer Emilie, formerly 
the Wm. Seabrook, of Charleston. She has been sent 
to Philadelphia. 

The captain, D. B. Vincent, goes North in this 
ship ; and as he is from Charleston, and has been 
engaged more than once running the blockade, and 
on one occasion, by falsely pretending tb be in distress, 
received assistance from the Roanoke (running in on 
that night to Charleston), I recommend that he be sent 
to Fort Lafayette. 

The supercargo, also from Charleston, has been 
engaged in running the blockade, and should not be 
permitted to be at large. 

I respectfully submit that the Department cannot 
exercise too much vigilance in preventing the return 
of these men, who, from their local knowledge of this 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 23 1 

part of the coast, are the most efficient instruments of 
the rebels in violating the blockade. 

One of the Lockwoods, when I left Hampton 
Roads last October, was a prisoner there, but was sub- 
sequently set at liberty, and, until lately captured on 
the Isabel, was engaged frequently in piloting British 
and rebel vessels into Charleston. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 12th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington ; 

Sir: — Enclosed is a survey on the United States 
steamer Norwich. She cannot be put in condition for 
service here, and, much against my will, I have ordered 
her to proceed to New York, where I trust she can 
be in a short time repaired and sent back to this 
squadron. 

I have retained nearly all her crew, who are en- 
listed for three years, and put on board the Norwich 
the men from the Ottawa, and a i^w from the Alabama, 
whose times are nearly out. 

I have also detached Acting Assistant Paymaster 
Darling, transferring him to the H. Andrews, ■ and at 
the same time detached Acting Assistant Paymaster 
Heberton, who has been an invalid, from the H. An- 
drews, and ordered him to the Norwich. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



232 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, July i8tli, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — Enclosed is a bill of lading for twenty 
thousand feet of yellow pine lumber, shipped from the 
St. John's river by Lieutenant Commanding Nicholson, 
the senior officer there, to the commandant of the 
naval station at New York. 

I have been informed that, by the law of prize, 
as settled in the New York courts, such timber is 
considered as prize, and if such be also the view of 
the Government, I would respectfully ask that direc- 
tions be given to the commandant of the naval sta- 
tion at New York, to turn the same over to the Prize 
Commissioner for adjudication. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July i8tli, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have the honor to forward an appraise- 
ment of value of the hull, machinery, tackle, etc., of 
the steamer Darlington, captured near Fernandina, 
Florida. 

At the time of taking Fort Clinch and Fernan- 
dina, I communicated to the Department the circum- 
stances of the capture of the Darlington. She is a 
high-pressure boat, of light draft, and can only be 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 233 

used in smooth inland waters, I have found her of 
great service as a dispatch vessel. She can never be 
taken North, and I have therefore had her appraised. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, July i8th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir: — When I sent back the Marine Battalion, 
thinking its organization as such might be maintained, 
I took from it only a very few men, to fill some va- 
cancies. 

I have to say now that the marines of this squad- 
ron are short ; and on board of this ship, especially, — 
where, on account of the large amount of public prop- 
erty, and of stores, including whisky, to be overlooked 
and transmitted from her day and night, to the different 
vessels of the squadron, an increase of guard is partic- 
ularly needed. This important service is now badly 
performed for want of sufficient police, and many of 
the men were drunk yesterday. 

I have to request that fifty marines be sent down 
to the squadron ; that thirty of them be forwarded at 
once, with an officer to take charge of the guard of 
this ship. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont. 

Flas: Officer. 



234 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 21st, 1862. 

Commander E. Lanier, 

United States Ship Alabama : 

Sir : — When a house was burned on the Santee, 
in an expedition up that river under Commander Pren- 
tiss, I learn with great mortification that plunder was 
permitted. 

I have given stringent orders to the senior officer 
at Georgetown to collect all articles on board of any 
vessels of the squadron, to be sent to the United 
States military governor at Beaufort. 

The Hale brought down here some of that plunder. 
I wish you to ascertain from Lieutenant Gillis, now 
your executive officer, what became of it. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 21st, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding Balch, United States Steamer 
Pocahontas : 

Sir: — You will please proceed with the Poca- 
hontas, under your command, and assume charge of the 
blockade at Georgetown, S. C., and the tributary waters, 
as senior officer. 

My last advices from there informed me that some 
seven hundred contrabands, including women and chil- 
dren, had collected on North Island. It is General 
Hunter's intention to send a steamer to transport them 
to Port Royal. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 235 

Please protect them until this can be done, and 
give all the facilities you can towards embarking them. 

Please select on your arrival one hundred of the 
best of those contrabands, to be shipped on their ar- 
rival here for the public service. The medical officer 
should look at them. 

In an expedition up the Santee, under Comman- 
der Prentiss, a house belonging to a Mr. Blake hav- 
ing been used for military purposes and otherwise, it 
was burned by order of Commander Prentiss, in ac- 
cordance with my instructions to the following effect : 
" The capture of any rebel property, such as cotton 
and rice, is proper. I would not destroy, however, 
buildings or houses, unless used by the rebels for sta- 
tioning pickets, or any other military purpose which 
may be annoying." 

I have been informed, however, that property was 
taken from the house, and carried on board some of 
our vessels by officers and men. This is against all 
my orders, instructions, and injunctions; and I am pained 
to learn this deviation from them. Commander Pren- 
tiss had gone North before I knew of this circum- 
stance. 

You will please inquire into this transaction, and 
cause to be collected every article so taken, in whose- 
ever possession they may be ; and placing them on 
board the Western World, will dispatch her to this 
port, with the hundred contrabands above alluded to. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



236 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 21st, 1862. 

Commander E. G. Parrott, United States Steamer Augusta, 
Senior Officer, Charleston : 

Sir: — I have received the reports of the serious 
condition of the Sumter. She must be sent to this 
port at once, though I have no vessel to take her 
place. I trust, however, that the Huron and James 
Adger will be off Charleston in a few days. 

The French corvette Renaudier leaves here to- 
morrow for the purpose of removing from Charleston 
the consul's wife. You will please allow her to enter. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 23d, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform the Depart- 
ment of the present positions of the vessels of my 
squadron on the blockade. 

Off Georgetown, the steamers Pocahontas, Western 
World, and bark Gem of the Sea. 

Off Bull's Bay, the United States steamer Restless. 

Off Charleston, the steamers James Adger, Augusta, 
Alabama, Bienville, Sumter, Crusader, the United States 
ships Vandalia, Onward, Shepherd Knapp, bark Fer- 
nandina, and yacht America. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 237 

In Stono waters, steamers Pawnee, Ottawa, Pem- 
bina, Henry Andrews, and Ellen. 

In North Edisto, the steamers Mohawk and Planter. 

In St. Helena Sound, the United States ship Dale. 

In Wassaw Sound, the steamer Flag, and bark 
Braziliera. 

In Ossebaw Sound, the steamers Unadilla and 
Potomska. 

In St. Simon's, Altamaha, and Sapelo, are the 
steamers Florida, Wamsutta, Madgie, and E. B. Hale. 

At Fernandina, the steamers Dawn and Darlington. 

In St. John's river, the steamers Isaac Smith, 
Patroon, and Uncas. 

Off Mosquito Inlet, the United States steamer 
South Carolina. 

In Port Royal harbor, the steamers Keystone 
State, Huron, Seneca, Wyandotte, and schooner G. VV. 
Blunt, all of which, except the one first named, are 
undergoing repairs. 

The Paul Jones has just returned here from a 
reconnoissance in the waters of Ossebaw Sound. She 
will leave to-morrow for the St. John's to relieve the 
Isaac Smith. 

The Hope is constantly running up and down the 
coast as a dispatch vessel. The tugs Mercury and 
Pettit are employed in this harbor. The store ship 
Courier goes to New York this week. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



238 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 23d, 1862. 

J. Senthall, Esq., Chief Bureau Construction, 
Equipment, and Repair: 

Sir: — I have the honor to enclose a report of a 
survey on the United States gunboat Seneca. 

The master machinist has given me as his opinion 
that the repairs he is now making for upholding the 
shaft cannot last over three days' steaming. 

I regret so much, however, to lose the services of 
this vessel, that I am going to place her for a few 
weeks in Wassaw Sound, that I may send another 
vessel to the blockade of Charleston. 

I take this occasion to state to the Bureau that 
I am getting most valuable services from the machine 
shop, but certain cases, like the Seneca, Wyandotte, 
etc., are beyond its cure. Such vessels I am com- 
pelled to send home, and the Bureau may feel assured 
I am sending no others. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C.July 24th, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding W. D. Whiting, United States Steamer 
Wyandotte, Port Royal : 

Sir : — You will proceed with the steamer Wy- 
andotte, under your command, to New York, and report 
your arrival to Flag Officer Paulding, commanding 
the naval station there, and through him to the Hon- 
orable Secretary of the Navy. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 239 

The Department will determine whether the Wy- 
andotte shall be repaired. 

I take this occasion to say that your conduct, 
while under my command, whether as executive offi- 
cer of the Vandalia, at the capture of the Port Royal 
forts, or as Lieutenant Commanding of the Wy- 
andotte since, has met with my entire approbation, 
and it will afiford me much gratification if the Depart- 
ment can give you a better vessel, and send you back 
to this squadron. 

Respectfijlly, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 25th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — The Wyandotte sails to-day for New York. 
She is so disabled that with all the facilities at our 
command she cannot be put in order for any pur- 
pose whatever, either for inside or outside blockade 
service. 

It will be for the Department to determine whether 
she is worth repairing. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



240 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 25th, 1862. 

Commander C. Steedman, United States Steamer 
Paul Jones, Port Royal : 

Sir : — You will please proceed with the Paul Jones 
under your command, to Ossebaw, where the Unadilla 
now is. 

Enclosed you will find memoranda of information 
given to Lieutenant Commanding Collins by a contra- 
band, corroborating previous information in reference 
to a steamer being in the Ogeechee. Of course you 
can appreciate the necessity of not permitting this 
vessel to escape. 

With the Unadilla, Wamsutta, and Huron in case 
she can join you in time, I desire you to make a 
reconnoissance in force ; and if you are satisfied that 
you can destroy or silence the fort, without too much 
risk of life, I wish you to do so. In case you pass 
the fort, you will continue to the railroad, and de- 
stroy or capture the steamer. 

When you have completed this reconnoissance you 
will please proceed to the St. John's river, and relieve 
Lieutenant Commanding Nicholson in the command of 
those waters. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 24I 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C, July 26th, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding D. Ammen, United States 
Steamer Seneca : 

Sir : — I regret much the disabled condition of 
the Seneca; but it is doubtless owing, in part, to her 
constant service for ten months under your efficient 
command. The vessel ought to go North, and I will 
send her soon ; but it is necessary, for a short time, 
that she perform some inside work. 

You will, therefore, proceed to Wassaw Inlet and 
relieve Commander Strong, that he may resume block- 
ading duty off Charleston, where a vessel has recently 
got in. 

You are familiar with the waters and tributaries 
of Wassaw Inlet. Whatever you can learn of the 
condition of things at Savannah will be desirable. 

I will communicate frequently with you, and re- 
lieve you as soon as I can. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 

P. S. — You will please render any assistance in 
your power to Commander Strong in getting the old 
hulk out; being very careful of your machinery. 

S. F. D. P. 



16 



242 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 28th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report to the Depart- 
ment the arrival here yesterday of the gunboat Marble- 
head, Lieutenant Commanding S. Nicholson ; and to- 
day of the gunboat Sebago, Lieutenant Commanding 
Henry ; the latter, being all ready for sea, proceeds 
in the morning off Charleston. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 29th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — I have omitted, heretofore, officially to in- 
form the Department of an important occurrence that 
took place about the middle of May last. 

The Sumter was stationed at Wassaw, on the in- 
ner blockade. Her commander. Lieutenant Pattison, 
sent one of his boats, by the inner passage, to Fort 
Pulaski, for the purpose of gaining information con- 
cerning the enemy's gunboats, and placed her in charge 
of Acting Master Levi Crowell. Several other offi- 
cers were permitted to go at the same time. 

By some unaccountable mistake, the boat, instead 
of continuing on the route to Pulaski, wandered up 
Wilmington Narrows, and got into St. Augustine creek 
near Fort Jackson, and was taken by the pickets of 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 243 

the rebels. This information was, subsequently, ob- 
tained under a flag of truce. 

I have endeavored, through General Hunter, to ef- 
fect an exchange, but my efforts have not been suc- 
cessful. The officers and men. by the last information, 
were at Augusta, Georgia. 

Their names and rates are as follows : 

Levi Crowell, acting master. 

Chas. G. Stevens, acting second assistant engineer, 

Warren Ewen, acting third assistant engineer. 

Frank W. Turner, acting master's mate. 

Robert F. Russ, acting master's mate. 

William F. Sprague, coxswain. 

Henry Slother, quartermaster. 

John Ward, seaman. 

James Durham, seaman. 

O. F. Stone, ordinary seaman. 

John Miller, ordinary seaman. 

W. J. C. Mclntire, ordinary seaman. 

David Wooster, steward. 

Thomas Fay, steward. 

Alfred W. Minor, surgeon's steward, 

I have forwarded the list in case there is a gen- 
eral exchange of prisoners. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, 

P. S. — I learn that the above-named persons are 
very comfortably off at Augusta. 

S, F. D. P., 

Flag Officer. 



244 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 30th, 1862. 

Commander C. Steedman, United States Steamer Paul Jones, 
St. John's River: 

Sir : — On the receipt of this order you will please 
return at once with the Paul Jones to this anchorage, 
leaving the blockade of the St. John's river in charge 
of Acting Master H. M. Gregory, commanding the 
Patroon. 

I am compelled to reduce the force in the St. 
John's river; and if there be any undue risk in keep- 
ing the river open to Jacksonville, it will be sufficient 
to maintain the blockade from Mayport Mills, or a 
more suitable anchorage ; and for this the Patroon 
and the Uncas will suffice. 

You will give such instructions to Acting Master 
Gregory as your short experience there may enable 
you to do ; but he has been so long employed in 
those waters, that I rely upon his judgment, and 
therefore leave him in charge. 

Please furnish him with a copy of this letter. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 

P. S. — Please bring up with you W. Thos. Kemp, 
surgeon's steward of the Patroon. He will be dis- 
charged by Acting Master Gregory of that vessel ; the 
former surgeon of the Patroon, Dr. Pindell, having 
desired it. 

S. F. D. P. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 245 

Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 30th, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding J. P. Bankhead, United States Steamer 
Pembina, Charleston : 

Sir: — I have received information that the rebels 
intend to run the blockade either by the Savannah 
river or Wassaw, and I desire to increase the force at 
Wassaw, as the Seneca has very little steam power. 

There is also some information, apparently reliable, 
that a ram is completed at Savannah. 

Commander Marchand has orders to send the 
.Pembina at once to Wassaw. You will report to 
Lieutenant Commanding Ammen. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C, August ist, 1862. 

Brigadier General R. Saxton, Military Governor : 

General: — A good many articles were brought 
down in a gunboat from Georgetown, which were taken 
from the house of a Mr. Blake. The house, having been 
used by rebel pickets, was burned by order of the 
senior naval officer there. 

I have not permitted any of these articles to be 
retained by officers or men, and have had them de- 
livered to the provost marshal at Hilton Head, to be 
held subject to your orders, believing this was the 
proper course. 



246 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Some jewelry, not of much value, but because it 
was jewelry, I thought best to be retained here until 
you authorized some one to receive it. 

I am, General, with great respect, your obedient 
servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August ist, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding Reed Werden, United States 
Steamer Conemaugh : 

Sir: — The Savannah river, since the capture of 
Fort Pulaski, has been left free, without a vessel of 
war. I have reason to believe, however, that some 
preparations are making to run the blockade from and 
into Savannah, avoiding the fire of Pulaski by using 
some of the tributary streams. 

You will please proceed to the Savannah river, 
and after communicating with the commanding officer 
of Fort Pulaski, who may have some desirable infor- 
mation to give, you will select a station in New river, 
or in Calibogue Sound, or under the fort, or in any 
location which your judgment may dictate, to prevent 
ingress or egress of vessels attempting to run the 
blockade. 

I enclose copy of a letter from the colonel com- 
manding Pulaski, to the Commanding General of the 
Department, and transmitted to me 

Since writing the above I have examined the chart, 
and call your attention to a spot at the southern ex- 
tremity of the deep water channel from Calibogue 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 247 

Sound, which would command the channel by a cross 
fire with the battery on Tybee, give a longer notice 
from Pulaski of anything approaching, and an easy 
access to go up Calibogue Sound, if this became 
necessary. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer, 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 2d, 1862. 

Commander J. B. Marchand, 

Senior Officer off Charleston, S. C. : 

Sir: — We have information through a letter from 
one of the crew of the Restless that the English 
sailing barque that came into this harbor, reporting 
she had yellow fever on board, has been at anchor 
somewhere near the Restless station. 

This vessel, after lying some days here, and 
having received medical attendance and supplies, was 
sent out by General Hunter. She was afterwards 
spoken by the Western World, standing in for George- 
town, and showed the boarding officers General Hun- 
ter's order for her departure from here. He said she 
was bound for New York, If it be after this that 
she was down on your station, it would be almost 
conclusive evidence that she was intending to run 
the blockade. 

The custom-house boarded her here; she re- 
ported bound to Cronstadt, Russia, from Havana ; owing 
to the yellow fever being supposed to be on board, 
her hatches were not opened. 



248 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

If hovering near you, take her, and send her 
North for examination, reporting the circumstances, and 
making her stop at the Lazaretto. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont. 

Flag Officer. 

P. S. — You will please order the Mohawk to re- 
turn at once to North Edisto, and assume charge of 
those waters. I have discovered that I did not send 
you this order by the Marblehead. 

S. F. D. P. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 7th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform the Depart- 
ment that the United States gunboat Unadilla captured 
the British steamer Lodona, at half past twelve, on the 
4th inst., in Hell Gate, between the Ogeechee and Ver- 
non rivers, Ossebaw Sound, for violating the blockade. 

She attempted, the night before, to run into Tybee, 
expecting to run up the Savannah river, past Fort 
Pulaski ; but she was fired upon by the battery near 
the Martello tower, on Tybee ; one shot from which 
penetrated the cabin. She then ran out to sea, and 
the following day entered into Ossebaw Sound, where 
she was taken by the Unadilla. 

As soon as she discovered the Unadilla she at- 
tempted to run through Hell Gate, but got aground, and 
then hoisted the English ensign. Union down. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 249 

The Lodona is a new steamer, built this year at 
Kingston- upon- Hull ; and among her papers was a 
permit from the United States consul at Leeds, to go 
to Port Royal and Beaufort, N. C. 

Her cargo, by manifest, consists of brandy, wines, 
tea, coffee, salt, clothing, boots, drugs, watches, figs, 
raisins, whisky, starch, soap, tin plates, soda, dry goods^ 
paints, colors, quinine, etc. 

She proceeds to Philadelphia in charge of Lieu- 
tenant C. H. Greene, of the Unadilla, with Acting 
Master G. W. Hayward, of the Potomska, and Acting 
Master H. M. Gregory, of the Isaac Smith, and Acting 
Second Assistant Engineer B. F. Beckett, and Acting 
Third Assistant Engineer G. F. Fuller, formerly of the 
Conemaugh, and latterly of the Crusader, and sixteen 
men from the Unadilla, and six firemen and four coal 
heavers of the Crusader. The times of some of these 
men are out, or nearly so, and of course entitled to 
their discharge. 

Her supercargo, Mr. Perdue, and her captain, 
Charles E. Luckie, go North in her. Both have admit- 
ted that they were attempting to run the blockade. 

Her crew have been transferred to the Crusader, 
which will proceed to New York in a few days in 
tow of the Arago. 

I have written to Flag Officer Paulding to retain 
tiem on board of the Crusader until further directions 
fnm the Department, as some of them may possibly 
be required as witnesses, in which case it seems to 
me but proper that the Government should pay for 
ther transportation to Philadelphia. 

Among the papers forwarded to me by the De- 
partnent is a copy of a communication from the United 
Stats consulate at Liverpool to the Secretary of State, 



250 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

dated June nth, and one from the United States con- 
sulate at Falmouth, dated June 3d, referring to this 
steamer. How far these documents can be used in 
evidence before the prize court, I am unable to say ; 
the Department can judge, and use them accordingly. 
Enclosed is a list of the officers and crew of the 
Unadilla entitled to a share in the prize. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August yth, 1862. 

Hon. John Cadwalader, United States District Judge, 
Philadelphia : 

Sir: — I have the honor to report that the United 
States gunboat Unadilla, Lieutenant Commanding N. 
Collins, captured the British steamer Lodona, at 12.30 
P. M., August 4th, in Hell Gate, between the Ogeechee 
and Vernon rivers, Ossebaw Sound, for violating the 
blockade. 

At eleven A. M., the Unadilla, being in Florida 
Passage to the southward of the Ogeechee, discovered 
a strange steamer coming up towards the latter river. 
Upon her discovering the Unadilla, she attempted t3 
run through Hell Gate, where she grounded, ard 
hoisted the English ensign. Union down, and a whte 
flag at her mizzen. 

The Unadilla ran down near her, hoisted the 
American ensign, sent a boat on board, tool< posses- 
sion of her, and soon succeeded in getting her aioat. 
On examining her papers it was ascertained that she 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 2$ I 

was the Lodona, of Hull, from London, via Bermuda 
and Nassau, bound to Beaufort, N. C, and Port Royal, 
with a cargo of brandy, wines, tea, coffee, salt, cloth- 
ing, boots, drugs, watches, figs, raisins, whisky, starch, 
soap, tin plates, soda, dry goods, paints, colors, quinine, 
etc., etc., as per manifest found on board. 

Her supercargo, Mr. Perdue, and Captain Luckie, 
admit that they attempted to run into Savannah the 
night before, but were driven off by the guns at the 
Martello tower, Tybee Island, one shell from which 
penetrated and exploded in her cabin, and that they 
were running the blockade, and were taken " bloody- 
handed." 

From her register and crew list, it appears that 
she was built this year, at Kingston -upon- Hull ; has 
one deck, three masts, barque -rigged, elliptical stern, 
clinker built, no galleries, no head, frame -work and 
hull of iron, two hundred and four and two-tenths 
feet long, twenty-eight and four-tenths feet wide, sixteen 
and five-tenths feet deep. Total tonnage, six hundred 
and eighty-seven and ninety-three one-hundredths; one 
hundred and fourteen and eighty-nine one-hundredths 
tons for space required for propelling power; leaving 
five hundred and seventy-three and four one-hundredths 
register tonnage. Length of engine room, twenty-six 
feet eight inches. Two engines, estimated horse-power, 
eighty. 

Charles E. Luckie is master, and Z. C. Pearson, of 
London, sole owner. Total of crew and officers, twenty- 
seven. Among her papers, which were found, are the 
register crew list, manifest of cargo, official log-book, 
invoice of cargo, custom-house papers, and a permit 
from the United States consul at Leeds to go to 
Port Royal and Beaufort, N. C. 



252 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I may add that, to prevent being seen, the Lodona 
had all her yards and topmasts on deck at the time 
she was discovered and captured. 

I send her to Philadelphia for adjudication in 
charge of Lieutenant C. H. Greene, United States Navy, 
who will deliver to you the accompanying papers 
(being ail that were found on board), and will furnish 
the necessary evidence. 

The master, Charles E. Luckie, and the supercargo, 
Mr. Perdue, go in the prize ; the rest of the officers 
and crew will be taken to New York by the United 
States steamer Crusader. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 7th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — I have the honor to report to the De- 
partment the capture of the schooner Aquila, of 
seventy-seven tons, on the morning of the 4th inst., 
by the Huron, whilst attempting to run out from 
Charleston by Maffitt's channel. She was bound to 
Nassau, and had on board between three hundred and 
four hundred barrels of turpentine. 

No papers were found, and the written leaves of 
the log-book torn out, and no flag. 

She was sent to Philadelphia, and the master, W. 
H. Ward, and one man, were sent as witnesses ; the 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 253 

balance of the crew, four in number, were put on board 
the Potomska, which sails to-day for Philadelphia, 
broken down. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S." F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 7th, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding J. W. A. Nicholson, 
U. S. S. Isaac Smith : 

Sir: — You will proceed at once with the Isaac 
Smith, under your command, to New York, reporting 
the arrival of your vessel to Rear Admiral Paulding. 

You will then, with his consent, proceed to Wash- 
ington and report yourself at the Navy Department, for 
the purpose of seeing the Bureau of Construction on 
the nature and extent of the repairs and improvements 
to be put on the Isaac Smith, the superior qualities of 
which vessel you will be able to represent. 

I think it my duty to express to you the full 
appreciation I have placed upon your services on this 
station, from the action against the Port Royal forts, 
and though the varied, difficult, and responsible duties I 
have given you to perform so frequently, as senior 
officer, when separated from me. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



254 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C, August 7th, 1862, 

Commander J. R. Goldsborough, 

Senior Officer, St. Simon's : 

Sir: — Brigadier -General Saxton proceeds to St. 
Simon's with a large force of the First South Caro- 
lina Regiment Volunteers, to take charge of the con- 
traband settlement on St. Simon's Island. 

You will transfer to him the control of this Island, 
giving however such support by your gunboats, to the 
protection of the settlement, as lies within your power; 
and showing the same interest as heretofore in this 
colony, which owes its origin and existence to the navy. 

Respectfully, etc. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 7th, 1862. 

Acting Master A. T. Snell, United States Ship 
E. B. Hale: 

Sir: — Immediately upon receipt of these orders 
you will proceed with the E. B. Hale, under your 
command, to St. John's river, Florida, and assume charge 
of the blockade of those waters ; receiving from Acting 
Master McKiege of the Patroon such information as 
his experience in that vicinity will suggest. 

Should there not be a medical officer on board 
the Uncas, you will detach Assistant Surgeon Moore 
from the Patroon and order him to the Hale or Uncas. 

Acting Master Dickinson of the Patroon, a pilot 
for St. John's river, is ordered to report for duty on 
board the Hale. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 255 

As senior officer in these waters, your principal 
duty will be to maintain an inside blockade of that 
river; in addition to which you will maintain the 
free navigation of the same as far as Jacksonville, so 
far as your force will enable you to do so. 

Lieutenant Commanding Nicholson, late senior offi- 
cer in the St. John's, informs me that he thinks the 
enemy contemplates fortifying Yellow and St. John's 
Bluffs. By watching their movements occasionally, I 
think you will be able to prevent their making any 
progress at those points. 

You will get your supplies of coal at Fernan- 
dina; and in case you are unable to communicate 
directly with Port Royal by means of the schooner 
Garibaldi, you will find Fernandina a convenient inter- 
mediate station through which to obtain your other 
supplies. 

I am not aware whether Lieutenant Commanding 
Nicholson has transmitted my instructions in reference 
to contrabands ; but I presume he has. Should any 
come off, to either vessel, you will receive them ; and 
should you not have employment for them on board, 
you will transfer them to the military commandant at 
Fernandina. 

If any persons representing themselves as loyal 
citizens apply to you as the owners of any such 
contrabands, you will record the circumstance in the 
log-book, together with the name of such applicant, 
making a report of the circumstance to me; but you 
will not deliver any up. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



256 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 7th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — Enclosed are two communications from 
Commander Marchand, containing some statements of 
contrabands in reference to the iron-clad vessels in 
Charleston, upon which however it would be unwise 
to place much dependence. 

Commander Marchand also refers to the blockade 
and the difficulties attending it. 

I have no reason to doubt the watchfulness of 
any of the officers of that division of my squadron ; and 
having been myself there on two occasions, I can fully 
appreciate the great obstacles in the way of maintain- 
ing a perfect blockade. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August loth, 1862. 

Flag Officer Pendergrast, Commandant U. S. 
Navy Yard, Philadelphia : 

Sir: — The Wabash returned here on Thursday last, 
and Captain C. R. P. Rodgers has taken much pleas- 
ure in reporting to me the ready and earnest zeal dis- 
played by the officers, heads of departments, and 
mechanics of the yard under your command, in further- 
ing in every way the improvements and repairs which 
her brief visit would admit of 

I never knew so many and such important ones 
accomplished in the same number of days, and I have 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 257 

just written to the Honorable Secretary to make men- 
tion of this fact, stating the principal ones. 

I beg to add my thanks for one in which I had 
a personal interest, — the change of arrangements in my 
cabin; adapting it more to the great heats of the 
coast, just commencing in this month with fearful in- 
tensity. 

Will you do me the favor to transmit my thanks 
to Mr. Hoover ; Lieutenant Rolando ; the ordnance offi- 
cer. Lieutenant Badger ; Paymaster Rittenhouse ; the in- 
spector of the station ; and to any other in the yard 
to whom I am indebted for carrying out so promptly 
your own efficient and considerate views in the matter, 

I am, sir, with great respect, your most obedient 
servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August loth, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the satisfaction to announce the re- 
turn to this station of the Wabash, under Commander 
Rodgers. 

I beg the Department will receive the very cordial 
expression of thanks for having carried out, in reference 
to this ship, the suggestions which I had respectfully 
submitted. 

She started punctually on the earliest day I could 
have believed possible, and, notwithstanding the very 
brief period of her visit, she has come back to this 
station greatly improved. 17 



258 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

The increase of the calibre of her spar-deck bat- 
tery, the accession of a two-hundred pounder rifled gun, 
the refishing of the mainmast, and the placing of a 
new quadrant on the rudder, together with the re- 
pairing of her deck where worn by the guns, are im- 
provements of a very important character, and I 
could not have believed they could have been accom- 
plished in so short a time. 

May I ask the Department to send a copy of 
this communication to the commander of the Navy 
Yard at Philadelphia, as an expression of my apprecia- 
tion of the manner in which the work has been done, 
and my thanks for the same. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August loth, 1862. 



Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — Incidentally, in other communications, I have 
referred to the departure of the Potomska and Isaac 
Smith for the North, yet I have not formally reported 
the fact. 

The Potomska sailed on the morning of the 7th 
for Philadelphia, and the Isaac Smith on the afternoon 
of the same day for New York. 

The Isaac Smith has been a most valuable vessel 
for the inland waters here, and is worthy of the im- 
provements and repairs which her commander has 
recommended, and which I have forwarded to the 
Bureau of Construction. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 259 

The Potomska has been also a very useful vessel 
for similar services ; but I am not prepared to sug- 
gest how far she may or may not be repaired. This 
can best be decided by survey. 

I have further to report that the Crusader leaves 
to-day, in tow of the Arago, for New York ; and I 
do not hesitate to give it as my opinion to the 
Department that she is not worth repairing. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August nth, 1862. 

Captain J. R. Goldsborough, 

Senior Officer, St. Simon's : 

Sir : — I received last evening your communica- 
tion by the Alabama, referring to the appearance of 
the rebels and their landing on St, Simon's Island, 
and the disposition of your force in consequence. 

I was gratified to learn that your measures have 
been so efficient and successful ; but I have to inform 
you that there is an evident intention to run the 
blockade through the waters of Georgia, at the present 
time, and the various points of entrance must be as 
effectually guarded as the force under you will per- 
mit ; and I am increasing it by sending you the 
Alabama. 

If the colony on St. Simon's should require more 
protection, it will have to be given by the army. I 
will thank you to inform me on this point. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



260 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Aug. nth, 1862. 

Commander T. G. Corbin, United States Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal, S. C. : 

Sir : — You are hereby ordered to relieve Com- 
mander Rodgers, in command of this ship. 

Understanding from the latter that you scarcely 
left the vessel, during her recent visit to the North, 
lest the progress of her repairs should be retarded, 
you can go North in the Massachusetts, returning in 
the next trip of that vessel to assume your new du- 
ties here. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Vermont, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 2d, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have detached Acting Assistant Paymas- 
ter Seymour F. Frizell from the United States ship 
Western World, and sent him North, directing him to 
report his arrival to the Department by letter. The 
accounts of that vessel, for the present, are in the 
hands of Acting Assistant Paymaster Coit, of the Val- 
paraiso. 

An expedition up the Santee river had been un- 
dertaken by Commander Prentiss, with the Western 
World, Henry Andrews, and E. B. Hale, for the pur- 
pose of burning the railroad bridge, some seventy miles 
from the mouth, which however failed in consequence 
of the sharp bends of that river, which none of the 
steamers, except the Hale, could pass. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 26 1 

In passing Blake's plantation they were fired upon 
by artillery, riflemen, and cavalry, and Commander 
Prentiss very properly shelled the place and destroyed 
the mill and dwelling which harbored the rebels, and 
had been long used as the headquarters of a regiment 
stationed there to protect vessels running the blockade 
through South Santee and Alligator creek. Commander 
Prentiss however permitted the house to be plundered, and 
a great many articles were taken on board the steamers. 

After the vessels had returned off Georgetown he 
gave orders to the commanding officers to have all 
the property delivered up, packed in boxes, to be sent 
to Port Royal. 

The commanding officers of the different vessels 
called the officers and men to muster, and read the 
order, which was generally complied with. 

Acting Assistant Paymaster Frizell professed to de- 
liver up all plunder in his possession, but suspicion 
being raised that he had not complied with the order, 
his room was searched, and many articles found which 
had been taken from Blake's plantation. 

Upon these facts coming to my knowledge I de- 
tached Acting Assistant Paymaster Frizell, and sent him 
North. I recommend his dismissal from the service. 

May I ask the Department to dispatch another 
paymaster for the Western World. 

I may add, in conclusion, that all the plunder 
above mentioned was by my order delivered over to 
the provost marshal at Hilton Head, to be taken 
charge of by Brigadier-General Saxton, the military 
governor of South Carolina. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



262 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Aug. 15th, 1862. 

To His Excellency the President : 

Sir: — I have often been desired to address you, 
by various persons and for different ends, but I have 
never before ventured to intrude upon your vast la- 
bors. 

An old and very dear friend of mine, whom I 
have known intimately abroad while engaged in what 
I deem the most heroic of occupations, carrying and 
preaching the gospel to the heathen, writes me he is 
an applicant for a chaplaincy. 

Soon after his return from a foreign land we met 
again, and I know his loyalty to the Union to be above 
suspicion; I mention this particularly because his con- 
nection with a church in Washington, and with diffi- 
cult duties incident thereto, have started doubts on this 
point. 

Without expressing an opinion whether my friend 
in question, the Rev. E. W. Syle, acted unwisely, or 
not, in those controversies, I can vouch not only for 
his loyalty, but for his eminent fitness for the station 
he asks, having especial attributes for filling it, viz., 
the highest Christian virtues, with remarkable tact in 
dealing with his fellow-men and winning the favor of 
all classes. 

If your Excellency finds it in accordance with 
your own views to appoint the Rev. Mr. Syle, it will 
be a matter of gratification and heartfelt thanks to 
your Excellency's most faithful servant. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 263 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 15th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — This will be handed you by Acting Master 
S. W. Preston, who has been Flag Lieutenant to this 
squadron. I could not spare him to go North in 
the Wabash, but the return of Captain Rodgers enables 
me to do so now. 

If I were to express my opinion of Mr. Preston's 
services in this fleet, and the relief his intelligent en- 
ergy has been to me, personally, in the discharge of 
my own duties, it might seem exaggerated ; but it is 
due to him, and to the navy, to say that if ever an 
officer has earned his promotion, it is Mr. Preston. 

I am not aware how far the Department intends 
to go down in the promotion of passed midshipmen; 
from the demand for regular lieutenants being so great, 
I presume it will promote all that are found compe- 
tent. 

Mr. Preston stands at the head of the class of 
1858. If the Department intended not to go below 
that of 1857, he could still be promoted, without do- 
ing injustice, or passing over any one, while it would 
give merit a distinctive reward. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



264 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August i8th, 1862. 

Captain Guert Gansevoort, U. S. Ship 
Adirondack : 

Sir: — You will proceed to our force off Nassau, 
according to the orders contained in the Honorable 
Secretary's dispatch of August 13th. Communicate with 
the consul of the United States, if you can do so 
without violating the rules of the port of Nassau, given 
to you on your recent visit. 

You will return here with all dispatch. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August iSth, 1862. 

Major-General D. Hunter, Commanding Department 
of the South : 

General : — I have had the honor to receive your 
communication of the i6th inst, in reference to the 
establishment of quarantine regulations for this harbor, 
and more especially in view of yellow fever, of a 
malignant type, having appeared at Key West. 

I need hardly add that I shall co-operate with 
you most earnestly in carrying out your views on 
this important subject. 

I will issue without delay a general order to the 
vessels of my fleet, informing them of the proposed 
regulations ; and will station immediately a vessel, at 
some suitable point between this and the bar, to act 
as a guard-boat in conjunction with the health -boat 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 265 

of the army, on which the medical officers, I presume, 
will reside. 

I am not prepared to suggest, at this moment, 
where the quarantine grounds should be located, to 
which my attention was called, verbally, by your As- 
sistant Adjutant General, Captain Smith. I am dis- 
posed to think that St. Helena Sound would be pre- 
ferable to any place in this harbor, or the Savannah 
river. 

I have the honor to be, General, with much re- 
spect, your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August i8th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — The Department has already been informed 
of the continuous wearing out of the steamers of this 
squadron from long and constant use ; the repairs of 
which, in many cases, being beyond the capacity of 
our machine shop. 

I have to thank the Department for its efforts to 
supply deficiencies thus created, and for sending me 
four efficient vessels of their class ; but unfortunately I 
have now to report that the four regular gunboats, 
Unadilla, Ottawa, Seneca, and Pembina, which left in the 
expedition in October last, and have been important 
vessels in this squadron, and perhaps overworked by 
me, have given way. I am pleased to say, however, 
they are such fine vessels, and so well constructed on 
the whole, that I am induced to believe three weeks 



266 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

will suffice to render them efficient again, provided some 
special measures are taken to require the work to be 
done in that time. 

As these vessels may be of vast importance later, 
and are no longer of any use to me, except as a show 
of force, I have concluded to send them, severally, 
as I can get them prepared, to New York, where the 
patterns of their machinery are, which will save time 
in their repairs. 

I am sure the Department will hurry out the 
vessels it has promised me. The Canandaigua, Hous- 
atonic, and Adirondack have not yet arrived. The 
Flambeau and Norwich I thought would have been 
here. 

As these gunboats have been a very important 
element in this squadron, the Department will appre- 
ciate my anxiety for their early return to it; and I 
respectfully submit that the Rear Admiral command- 
ing at New York, who will sympathize in this anxiety 
on my part, may be directed to put them instantly 
in hand ; to authorize night work, and to have the 
minor repairs keep pace with those on the machinery, 
and not permit the vessels to go out of commission, 
or the internal organization to be broken up, if it can 
possibly be avoided ; with such other arrangements as 
his own better judgment may suggest. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 

P. S. — Since the above was written the Adirondack 
has arrived. 

S. F. D. P., 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 267 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 19th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to submit to the De- 
partment the following apportionment of the one-half 
of the appraised value of the steamer Planter, with 
her armament and loose guns found on board, among 
Robert Small and his associates : 

The appraised value of the vessel and her arma- 
ment was $9,000 00 

The appraised value of loose guns, 168 00 

Total, $9,168 GO 

Amount to be apportioned, one-half, $4584 00 

to be distributed as follows : 

Robert Small, leader of the party, $1,500 00 

John Small, 450 00 

A. Gridiron, old engineer of Planter, 450 00 

D. Chisholm, 400 00 

A. Alston, '. 400 00 

G. Turno 400 00 

A. Jackson, 400 00 

W. Morrison, who joined the Planter after she 

left the wharf, 384 00 

Annie, . . . ] unprotected women f . . . . 100 00 

Lavinia, . . i of the party, ( . . . . 100 00 

Total, ... $,4584 00 

The other women, not mentioned above, derive 
benefit through their various relationship to the men. 
These two have no such connection, and are destitute 
and unprovided for. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



268 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Aug. 19th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — I have the honor to forward the within 
application of Commander A. G. Clary. 

The Dawn is one of the h'ghtest armed vessels 
in my squadron, and not at all suited for a com- 
mander's command. I have permitted Commander 
Clary to return North, that he may obtain a better 
vessel ; and have ordered Acting Lieutenant J. S. Barnes 
to the command of the Dawn, in his place. 

The promotions under the grade bill, advancing 
so many younger men in the squadron, have placed 
Mr. Barnes in a very peculiar and delicate position. 
He is an officer of great merit, and I trust the De- 
partment will approve the appointment, believing, as I 
do, that it will cause no dissatisfaction in the fleet. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Aug. 19th, 1862. 

Rear Admiral Shubrick, 

Chairman Light -house Board: 

Admiral: — Though it is not on iny station, I 
beg leave to recommend to the consideration of the 
Light -house Board the propriety of placing a light- 
vessel on the Frying-pan Shoals. So many transports, 
colliers, and supply vessels of various kinds come here 
to Port Royal, from the North, that I think this aid 
to their general bad navigation is very desirable. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 269 

One of the most skillful and intelligent of the 
army transport captains having come to me especially 
on the subject, I promised to address you immediately. 

The blockading vessels off Cape Fear will of 
course insure the safety of a light-vessel there. 

With great respect, Admiral, yours, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 21st, 1862. 

Commander G. B. Balch, United States Ship Pocahontas, 
Senior Officer off Georgetown : 

Sir : — I have received your several reports of the 
9th, 1 2th, and 15th insts., and am gratified at the man- 
ner in which you have conducted affairs in the waters 
of Georgetown. Your reconnoissance up the Black 
river was conducted not only with your usual spirit 
and energy, but with skill and judgment; and I have 
forwarded your interesting report of the same to the 
Honorable Secretary of the Navy. 

You will transmit to Acting Volunteer Lieutenant 
Baxter, of whose conduct you speak in such high 
terms in his management of the small prize steamer 
during the expedition, my warm commendation for his 
zealous and spirited discharge of duty. 

I regret however to learn the helpless condition 
of the Pocahontas. We have no means of repairing 
her here, and it will not do to send her North later 
in the season. You will, therefore, on receipt of this, 
proceed with her to Philadelphia without delay. 

The Pembina takes you this order and your mails, 



270 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

with provisions for the Gem of the Sea; and you 
will leave Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Baxter in charge, 
until I can send a steamer. 

I regret to lose the Pocahontas from this station. 
Please say to her officers and men that I have ever 
noted the prompt manner in which she has always 
responded to any call for service. 

With regard to yourself, it is my duty and pleasure 
to say, that you have come up to the highest re- 
quirements of the service as a commanding officer ; 
and I trust the Department, which is already informed 
by me of your merits, will give you a better vessel, 
and send you back to this station. 

Wishing you a safe run home, I am, 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 

P. S. — I regretted to hear of the wound to Mr. 
Hill, the engineer. If still living, please express my 
sympathy. 

S. F. D. P., 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 21st, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to forward the report of 
Commander G. B. Balch, of a reconnoissance up the 
Black river, some twenty- five miles above Georgetown, 
with the Pocahontas and the captured steam tug Treaty. 

It was conducted with the energy and intrepidity 
characteristic of that officer, who was also well sup- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 2/1 

ported by Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Baxter, in com- 
mand of the tug. 

The expedition was undertaken for the purpose of 
capturing a rebel steamer called the Nina, and said to 
be in Black river, about forty miles above Georgetown ; 
but after ascending some twenty-five miles, and shelling 
the enemy out of a battery, Commander Balch received 
reliable information that the machinery had been re- 
moved from the steamer, rendering her possession use- 
less to us. 

On his return he was attacked by the rebels from 
the woods, on both sides of the narrow river, and 
though hotly engaged, succeeded in returning to his 
anchorage with only one casualty, the wounding of the 
Acting Third Assistant Engineer, J. A. Hill, who was 
severely injured by a minie ball, though it is to be 
hoped not fatally. 

I am sorry to inform the Department that the 
condition of the boilers and machinery of the Poca- 
hontas is such that I am compelled to send her 
North. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 21st, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — I have the honor to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of the Department's letter of August 5th, enclos- 
ing an affidavit of the supercargo, mate, and others of 



272 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

the Steamer Emilie, alleging improper conduct on the 
part of the officers and crews of the boats which cap- 
tured her, and desiring me to investigate the matter, 

I forwarded a copy of the affidavit of Commander 
Strong, of the Flag, and Acting Volunteer Lieutenant 
Conroy, of the Restless, the boats from which ships 
boarded and seized the Emilie. 

The reports of these officers, as well as the reports 
from the officers engaged in the expedition, have been 
received, and from these papers I have ascertained in 
substance as follows : 

1st. That the British ensign was hauled down, 
but unaccompanied by any demonstration of passion or 
indignity. 

2d. That some of the men became intoxicated 
after boarding the ship, but that in this case, as in 
several others which have occurred on this station, the 
liquor was purposely placed by the officers and crew 
of the Emilie, for the very object of intoxicating the 
sailors boarding them. A quantity of the liquor was 
thrown overboard by our officers to keep it from their 
men. 

3d. That the trunks, etc., referred to as having 
been broken open, were mostly so broken by the offi- 
cers and crew of the Emilie when they discovered the 
boats approaching, and most of their contents had been 
put into a boat, which was endeavoring to escape to 
the shore, when the parties in it were compelled to 
return to the Emilie by our armed force. 

4th. That no pillage was discovered in any of 
the boats, or on the persons of the men, on their re- 
turn to their respective ships, except in one boat of 
the Restless, which carried off one pig, about thirty 
pounds of ham, and a small looking-glass. On this 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 273 

point Commander Strong and Acting Volunteer Lieu- 
tenant Conroy speak most positively. 

5th. That there was no quarrel between an officer 
and sailor, as alleged in the affidavit. A sailor of the 
Flag hit his arm accidentally against the point of a 
sword bayonet of one of his comrades, but the scratch 
was so slight that the man did not think it neces- 
sary to apply to the surgeon. 

6th. That no seaman fell overboard from intoxica- 
tion, and was drowned. It was true that one of the 
seamen was drowned, but he had been sent into a 
boat, then in tow of the Emilie, to steer her ojff; the 
boat had no rudder, and had to be steered by an oar; 
in doing so the oar slipped over the stern post, and 
the man fell overboard and sunk before help could 
reach him. 

I will not conceal from the Department that some 
irregularities appear to have occurred, owing mainly to 
to the inexperience of the officers, particularly in per- 
mitting their crews to go into the cabin and saloons 
of the prize, where the liquor, as before referred to, 
was scattered about. 

I have taken this part of the subject in hand, 
and will see that it never occurs again in this squad- 
ron. 

I am, sir, respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



18 



274 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 



Flag Ship Wabash, 

August 22d, 1862. 

CommaHder J. P. Bankhead, United States Ship 
Pembina : 

Sir : — There being no means of repairing the 
Pembina on this station, you will proceed with her to 
New York, and report your arrival to Rear Admiral 
Paulding, commanding naval station there, and through 
him to the Honorable Secretary of the Navy. 

You will on your way call in at Georgetown, S. C, 
and deliver the supplies and mails which will be placed 
on board of you, to the Pocahontas and Gem of the 
Sea, together with the accompanying dispatch to Com- 
mander Balch. 

I take this occasion to say that you have shown 
yourself a very efficient commanding officer in this 
squadron. I haye always been gratified at the very 
prompt manner, however short the notice, in which you 
were always ready for service, and the fidelity with 
which you executed my orders. This, with the ex- 
cellent discipline of your vessel, and her good order, 
has left me nothing to desire in the Pembina. And 
I wish you to say this to her officers and men. 

I shall be much pleased to have you return to 
this squadron. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DUPON7. 2/5 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 23d, 1862. 

Captain J. R. Goldsborough, United States Ship Florida, 
St. Simon's : 

Sir : — In forwarding your commission as captain, 
and knowing your desire to obtain a more suitable 
command for active service, I will anticipate the action 
of the Department. 

You are hereby detached from the Florida, and 
can take passage in the first suitable vessel North, 
reporting yourself to the Honorable Secretary of the 
Navy by letter on your arrival. 

You will please transfer the command of the 
Florida, for the present, to Lieutenant Commander R. 
W. Scott, her present executive officer. 

I take occasion to bear testimony to your faith- 
ful discharge of duty in this squadron, and to say I 
shall be pleased to see you return to it. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 23d, 1862. 

Acting Volunteer Lieutenant J. F. Nickels, United States Ship 
Onward, off Charleston : 

Sir: — A memorial, from the petty officers and 
crew of the Onward, has been forwarded to me by 
the senior officer of the division of this squadron off 
Charleston, on the subject of the withdrawal of the 
spirit portion of the ration, by a recent act of Con- 
gress. The memorial had not your approval as the 



2/6 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

commander of the Onward, which I am pleased to 
notice. 

I am always ready to forward any appeals from 
either officers or men under my command, whether to 
the Navy Department or to the Congress of the United 
States ; but these must be couched in proper terms, 
go through the proper channels, and be in conformity 
with naval usage and military propriety. 

The memorial in question, which I return, is de- 
ficient in all these respects ; the memorialists, among 
other points, have overlooked the terms of their obli- 
gations and enlistments. The shipping articles, which 
they have all signed, state in their second clause, 
" We do also oblige and subject ourselves to serve 
during the term aforesaid ; and we do severally oblige 
ourselves, during such service, to comply with and be 
subject to such laws, regulations, and discipline of the 
navy, as are, or that may be established by the Congress 
of the United States, or other competent authority," 

Congress has always regulated the navy ration ; 
and it has recently passed a law, approved by the 
President, who is moreover our Commander-in-Chief, 
changing that portion of the ration which allowed 
spirits, and substituting a liberal compensation in money. 

I regret to see in this petition that United States 
seamen, belonging to the South Atlantic blockading 
squadron, should look upon any act of their Govern- 
ment in reference to them, as an act of tyranny. No 
nation or government in the world pays its seamen 
as the United States does. No government issues 
such a ration to them, whether in quantity, quah'ty, or 
variety. No government supplies such clothing at 
cost. No government cares, to the same extent, for 
the health of its sailors. No government allows such 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 2// 

comforts in their declining years ; and no government 
provides, to the same extent, for those who come after 
them. 

I feel mortified to think that even a few of the 
men under my command should, instead of appreciat- 
ing such blessings, evince a querulous spirit with the 
exercise of lawful authority, beneficently directed. 

If your crew desire to petition for the substitu- 
tion of the spirit ration, and do it respectfully, it is 
my duty to forward the same ; and I will do so 
without fail. 

Please have this communication read to them on 
the first Sunday muster after its reception. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 23d, 1862. 

Commander D. Ammen, United States Ship 
Sebago : 

Sir: — From information received to-day, there is 
reason to believe that the Nashville, loaded with cot- 
ton, is endeavoring to run the blockade. She is either 
in the Ogeechee or Vernon river. 

You will please keep careful watch on her and 
another steamer, called the Emma ; the latter will 
probably attempt to' escape through Wassaw. 

Three deserters from Savannah, yesterday, say that 
she was below Fort Jackson, prepared to run the 
blockade. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



278 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 23d, 1862. 

Commander Reed Werden, United States Ship 
Conemaugh : 

Sir : — Immediately on the receipt of this order, 
you will please proceed to Ossebaw Sound, and assume 
charge there as senior officer, on Commander Clary, 
of the Dawn, being relieved by Acting Lieutenant 
Barnes. 

From various information, confirmed to-day by de- 
serters from Savannah, I am satisfied that the Nash- 
ville, loaded with cotton, is at this moment either in 
the Ogeechee or Vernon river; the last account stating 
that she is two miles below Beulah, aground. She is 
intending to run the blockade. 

Acting Lieutenant Barnes will give you all the 
information we have collected, and has some knowledge 
of his own of those waters. I desire that, with the 
Vixen or Dawn, you will make such reconnoissances 
as may lead to the capture of the Nashville, or her 
destruction ; or at least you will dispose of your force 
in such a way as will prevent her getting to sea 
through Ossebaw river. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harborj S. C, August 25th, 1862. 

Commander D. Ammen, United States Ship 
Sebago, Wassaw : 

Sir : — On receipt of this you will please dispatch 
the Seneca to this port, which I purpose sending 
home in tow of the Augusta. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 279 

Your two official communications, with your private 
note, have been received, and I have given them earnest 
consideration. 

Your reports in reference to the condition of the 
Sebago will go by the first mail to the Navy De- 
partment. I think your suggestions very valuable, and 
they have my approval. Please inform me if your 
cabin, in reference to which I have already written to 
the Bureau, can be altered at once, through such 
means as the station affords, in order to give it proper 

ventilation. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



• Flag Ship Wabash, 

Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 23d, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding M. B. Woolsey, United 
States Ship Dale : 

Sir : — In sending the Para, under your command, 
to her present anchorage in this harbor, I have the 
following objects in view : 

1st. To assist the Commanding General of this 
Department, to whose province it especially pertains, 
in carrying out certain quarantine regulations. 

2d. The sanitary regulations, the appointment of 
health or medical officers to board arriving vessels, 
will belong to the army. 

3d. The Para is to be a guard-ship, to compel, 
if necessary, all vessels to come to, in order to be 
boarded by the health officer. 

4th. These regulations, and others to be estab- 
lished by the Commanding General and myself, have 



28o OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

an especial reference to vessels coming from the South 
generally, but more especially from Key West, where 
yellow fever of a malignant type is now prevailing. 

5th. If the health officer should be off his station, 
every vessel must be detained until he returns to 
visit her. 

6th. The boats of the Para are not to board 
any vessel coming in, until visited by the health boat; 
if it be necessary to bring her to, a boat may be 
sent for this purpose ; but no one from your vessel 
is to go on board, or receive anything from her. 
You will please see that this order is scrupulously 
obeyed. 

7th. All regulations issued by the Commanding 
General will be sent to you ; and such as he has 
already promulgated are herewith enclosed. 

8th. Communications from the health officer must 
be made in writing, or be delivered by him or his 
agents from a boat. There must be no communica- 
tion between the boarding officers and the guard-ship. 

9th, and lastly. No vessel of war coming from 
the south of Cape Carnaveral, nor the navy supply 
ships from the Gulf, can be permitted to pass up 
until they have been visited by the health officer. 

All the vessels of this squadron, on showing their 
numbers, and coming within hail of the guard-ship, 
and reporting that no infectious or contagious disease 
exists on board of them, will be allowed to pass on ; 
but all others must anchor and be first visited by 
the health officer. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 28 1 

(Unofficial.) 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 23d, 1862. 

Major - General D. Hunter, Commanding 
Department of the South : 

General : — I herewith enclose a copy of my 
orders to the commander of the Para, now anchored 
off Fishing Rip, as the guard-ship, to carry out your 
views in reference to the quarantine. 

I wrote them in great haste ; please suggest any 
alterations or additions you would like to make. We 
have been so far mercifully spared, ashore and afloat, 
in reference to contagious diseases and those of this 
region. A few weeks more will carry us through, 
and I think we cannot do too much to ward off 
such an evil. Command me, therefore, in every way you 
may desire. 

How do you propose to send the health or medi- 
cal officers down ? Can I help you by having some 
concerted signal from the Para to Hilton Head? 
When a vessel is brought to, requiring to be visited, 
the least delay possible will be the best, as you are 
aware. 

I am greatly pressed in my duties by the con- 
tinuous breaking down of the steamers of the squad- 
ron, while attempts are increasing to run the blockade. 

I have information from various quarters to-day. 
Our English friends at Nassau have let out the Oreto, 
armed, under Simms. She is forelaying the California 
steamers. 

I am. General, yours, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



282 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 25th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform the Depart- 
ment that the the Bienville, Commander Mullany, cap- 
tured on the 2 1st inst. the schooner Eliza, of Nassau, 
about fifteen miles southeast by south from Cape Ro- 
man light She was heading to the southward, though 
professedly bound to Baltimore. The Eliza was laden 
with salt. 

Also, that on the 23d inst. Commander Mullany 
captured the schooner Louisa, about fifteen miles south- 
east of Cape Roman. Her cargo consisted of soap, 
tea, salt, medicines, etc. 

Both these vessels were sent for adjudication to 
Philadelphia. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 25th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report the capture 
of a schooner called the Fanny, by the United States 
ship Keystone State, under Commander Le Roy, close 
in with the land, near St. Simon's. 

She was from Nassau, purporting to be bound for 
Baltimore, with a cargo of salt. The captain and one 
of the crew (all of her crew being black), were sent in 
the prize to Philadelphia. 

I beg here to call the attention of the Department 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 283 

to the master of this prize. His name is William Ryan, 
and is, so Commander Le Roy reports, the same Wil- 
liam Ryan who was captured on the 19th of April 
last, in the Wave, a rebel schooner out of Charleston. 

I refer the Department to my dispatch of the 
25th of June last, in answer to a communication from 
this person, who was then a prisoner in Fort Lafayette. 
The first use he makes of his liberty is to break the 
blockade. Such men, with their knowledge of the coast, 
are too dangerous to be permitted to be at large. 

Enclosed also is a tabular statement of the vessels 
boarded by the Keystone State, in which is included 
the above prize. 

I would explain to the Department that few of 
these statements are forwarded, because no vessel ever 
ventured near the blockading stations excepting such 
as are attempting to run the blockade, and these are, 
if possible, not only boarded but seized. 

The Keystone State is now on a cruise along the 
coast, outside of the usual blockading line, and of 
course is liable to fall in with other vessels. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 26th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — Since my last dispatch of the 15th inst., 
referring to the contrabands, for service in the navy 
in the Pacific, I have had an interview with Brigadier- 
General Saxton, and regret to say it seems impossible 
to obtain contrabands who are willing to enlist. 



284 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

While showing a full sense of relief at the change 
in their physical and mental condition, they also 
evince strong local attachments, and great reluctance 
to be separated from their families and relations. 

We are employing many with advantage in the 
working parties and boats of the squadron, particularly 
at this moment, when the usual sickly season is upon 
us. 

I had about ninety contrabands brought from 
Georgetown a short time since, and placed them on 
the Vermont, for the above mentioned purposes ; but 
the senior officer reports that over a hundred more 
have come in. I shall ask the Commanding General 
to send for these ; it is inconvenient to provide for 
them in such localities, consuming as they do more or 
less the provisions of the blockading vessels. 

As they collect here I shall see further into the 
probabilities of enlisting a number for the Pacific. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 27th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — The enclosed survey will inform the De- 
partment why I am compelled to send home the 
Augusta for repairs; she goes to Philadelphia. 

She has been a most useful ship on this station, 
and commanded by an officer who has been faithful 
in the discharge of his duties. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 285 

The Augusta will tow home the Seneca, for rea- 
sons already given to the Department. 

I think the Augusta is worthy of the improve- 
ments recommended in the survey. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 27th, 1862. 

Commander E. G. Parrott, United States 
Ship Augusta : 

Sir: — The Augusta, under your command, having 
been surveyed, and requiring repairs beyond the capa- 
bilities of our machine shop, you will, as soon as ready, 
proceed with her to Philadelphia, and report to Com- 
modore Pendergrast, and through him to the Honor- 
able Secretary of the Navy. 

I take this occasion to express my very sincere 
approbation and appreciation of the services rendered 
by the Augusta on this station. 

If I am not mistaken, no vessel has seen more 
outside blockading service, and been less in port, and 
whose fires have been so seldom drawn. 

You have always been ready for service, and effi- 
cient in its performance. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



286 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

(Confidential.) 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 28th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — I had unplea.sant information to convey to 
the Department this morning, — the loss of that splen- 
did ship the Adirondack. This evening Captain Hazard 
came from Charleston, and I am fairly oppressed by 
what he tells me of the insufficiency of the blockade. 

While he bears testimony to the further closing 
in of the line of ships, to the boldness of the boats 
at night, going in sometimes to within fifty yards of 
Fort Moultrie, and to the ceaseless vigilance of both 
officers and men, he admits that the violations have 
been frequent; and, according to the best accounts, 
there are at this moment no less than eight steamers, 
painted lead color, in the harbor of Charleston. 

Though my force has been kept up to twelve 
vessels, with great difficulty, it is true, and which I 
can no longer continue to do, I have been very appre- 
hensive that some vessels would get in, as we have 
had thick weather and much rain; but I was not pre- 
pared for such a result. I think it probable that 
some two millions sterling of arms and merchandise 
have gone in the last ten days. The Herald has 
succeeded again, having the most skillful man on the 
coast on board of her, Coxetter. 

I feel as much regret to convey this information 
as the Department will to receive it; but I have 
done my best, the officers have done theirs ; it is for 
the Department to apply the remedy. I have no 
more ships to send there. Many vessels are still at 
Nassau, coming this week. My best vessel, the Bien- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 28/ 

ville, must come in for coal ; and we have from re- 
liable authority what I have always apprehended, that 
our sailing ships, from their conspicuous masts, and 
want of steam power, are much more favorable to the 
blockade runners than to ourselves. 

Enclosed are important communications from Com- 
manders Steedman and Mullany ; and memoranda of 
information given by a Mr. Sussen, to which especial 
attention is called. 

As I desire that the Department should have 
every information, I have directed Captain Hazard to 
report to the Honorable the Secretary of the Navy, 
in person ; for though this officer has not been very 
long on this station, he has been the senior officer 
there during this last pressure on the blockade. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 

P. S. — I am grieved to add that up to this hour 
neither the Norwich nor Flambeau has appeared. A 
more discouraging evidence of the inability of the navy 
yard to repair vessels in an ordinary time I have never 
known. There is no telling how different the result 
might have been if these two vessels had been off 
Charleston during the last ten days. The surveying 
officers stated three weeks would be required to re- 
pair ; those of the yard said four weeks ; it is now 
six since they left Port Royal. 

S. F. D. P., 

Rear Admiral. 



288 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, November 13th, 1862. 

To the Commanding Officer of the gunboat 
nearest to the point indicated : 

Sir : — General Saxton is sending the steamers Dar- 
lington and Ben Deford to a place near Darien, 
Georgia, to procure lumber, which is to be had there. 
You will give such cover to these vessels as may 
be necessary to protect them. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 28th, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding M. B. Woolsey, United States 
Ship Dale : 

Sir: — My order in reference to the non-intercourse 
between the health -boat and the guard-ship, so far as 
applied to the health officer, or any other individuals 
that it may be agreeable for you to see, is modified. 

My order was intended to apply more particularly 
to vessels placed in quarantine, rather than to the 

health -boat. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 289 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 28th, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commander A. C. Rhind, United States 
Ship Seneca: 

Sir : — The Seneca needing repairs which cannot 
be made at Port Royal, you will proceed north, towed 
by the Augusta. 

The Augusta proceeds to Philadelphia ; but if, on 
arriving off the capes of the Delaware, you can with 
safety continue to New York, do so ; otherwise you 
will go into Philadelphia. 

On your arrival at either city you will report your- 
self to the commandant of the station, and through 
him to the Secretary of the Navy. 

I cannot better convey my appreciation of your 
services on this station, than to express the desire 
that you may be continued in the Seneca, and return 
to this squadron. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 28th, 1862. 

Captain S. F. Hazard, United States Navy, 1 

Port Royal, S. C. : 

Sir : — In my previous order detaching you, for 
the reasons stated therein, from the James Adger, you 
were directed to report to the Secretary of the Navy, 
by letter. 

Your recent experience off Charleston, and the very 
intelligent manner in which you have explained the 

19 



290 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

difficulties of maintaining the blockade of the port, in- 
duce me to direct you that after reporting to the 
commander of the naval station at Philadelphia, you 
will proceed to Washington and report to the Hon- 
orable Secretary of the Navy, in person. 

You will please give to the Department all the 
information which your recent practical knowledge so 
well enables you to do, on the subject above referred 
to. 

You will report to Commander Parrott, of the 
Augusta, for passage to Philadelphia. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 28th, 1862. 

Captain J. F. Green, United States Ship 
Canandaigua : 

Sir: — The painful intelligence which has just 
reached me of the loss of the United States ship 
Adirondack, compels me to suspend the repairs con- 
templated on the Canandaigua, and to urge the com- 
pletion of such as are absolutely necessary to get your 
ship to sea at the earliest possible time. 

You will then proceed with all dispatch to Man- 
of-war Key, east point of Abaco, where the Adiron- 
dack was wrecked, and render all the assistance in 
your power to Captain Gansevoort in saving persons 
and public property. 

Captain Gansevoort and yourself, from your well 
known experience, will adopt all the necessary meas- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 29 1 

ures to secure through the United States Consul at 
Nassau, the recovery of the machinery and armament 
of the vessel. I cannot give you more specific in- 
structions. 

The officers and crew of the Adirondack you will 
bring to this port, unless some favorable opportunity 
should occur of sending them to a Northern port by 
steamer. 

You will find enclosed certain papers, which may 
be of service to your present duties. 

You are aware that the Oreto, armed privateer, or 
pirate, under ex - Lieutenant Maffitt, has been permitted 
to leave Nassau, and when last heard from was at 
Diana Key, near Cardenas, coast of Cuba ; said to be 
armed with six rifle guns, but with a short crew. In 
one of the enclosed papers is a description of this 
vessel. 

I have also been informed that the Laird gun- 
boat, or as called in Liverpool, " 290," under the command 
of Bullock, formerly in the United States navy, has 
arrived at Nassau, and may possibly now be on the 
ocean. 

You will please keep a lookout for these vessels 
on your way, going and coming, and any others in- 
tending to run the blockade. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



292 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 28th, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding J. H. Spotts, United States Ship 
Magnolia, Port Royal : 

Sir: — I have to thank you for the judgment and 
dispatch with which you brought me information of 
the unfortunate condition of the Adirondack. 

The Canandaigua, now pressing repairs on her 
machinery, will sail in the morning to the relief of 
the Adirondack. 

As soon as coaled and ready, you will proceed to 
execute such portions of Commander Lardner's orders 
as you have not yet fulfilled. 

On your way I have to request that after getting 
to sea, you will run down the coast, keeping say 
fifteen miles distant from it, for the purpose of inter- 
cepting the Keystone State, Commander Le Roy, who 
is cruising off the coast of Georgia, on the off shore 
line of the blockade. Should you meet him, you will 
please inform Commander Le Roy that I desire his 
immediate return to Port Royal.J 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



^ Flag Ship Wabash, 

J Port Royal Harbor, S. C, August 28th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — It is with the most painful feelings I have 
to inform the Department of the total loss of the 
splendid steamer Adirondack, on the northeast point 
of Little Bahama Bank, Man-of-war Key. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 293 

The intelligence was received this morning by the 
Magnolia, Lieutenant Commanding J. H. Spotts, who had 
fallen in with the Adirondack after she was wrecked. 
She ran on shore about half past three in the 
morning of the 25th of August; and Captain Ganse- 
voort, in a few hurried lines (a copy of which is 
enclosed), expresses his fears that the ship is a total 
loss, though he hopes to save most of her guns. 

In addition to this painful news, I have informa- 
tion that the Oreto, commanded by Mafifitt, is now on 
a piratical cruise, and aiming to intercept the United 
States mail steamer Columbia, due at Havana on the 
1st of September. By the latest advices she was at 
Diana Key, off Cardenas, in Cuban waters ; but the 
captain -general of Cuba had sent orders that she 
should leave that position. 

I also understand that the Laird gunboat, or " 290," 
commanded by Bullock, has also arrived at Nassau. 

From the report of Lieutenant Commanding Spotts, 
a copy of which is enclosed, it is evident that Cap- 
tain Gansevoort entertains some apprehensions that the 
rebel gunboats Oreto and " 290," hearing of his posi- 
tion, may take advantage of it and make them all 
prisoners. 

It is true that the Queen's proclamation of neu- 
trality has been constantly violated in the colonies of 
the Bahamas ; the last and most alarming instance 
being the sham trial of the Oreto, which has been 
permitted to sail from the port of Nassau, with a 
schooner almost in tow, carrying her armament, and 
is now a pirate on the ocean. 

Yet I can scarcely bring myself to believe that 
such a gross violation of it as apprehended by Captain 
Gansevoort would be allowed by the British Govern- 



294 OEFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

ment, but, on the contrary, that her cruisers would 
render every assistance. 

In this crisis I am myself almost powerless. The 
Keystone State is, as I have informed the Department, 
on an outside cruise, and at this moment, when I am 
most anxious to send out for her, and dispatch her to 
the assistance of the Adirondack, I have not a vessel 
for the purpose. It is of the utmost importance that 
the Department should put at my command a fast 
steamer of light draft, such as the Ben Deford, to be 
used solely as a dispatch vessel, by which I can at any 
moment communicate with any station of my squadron. 

The Canandaigua is here undergoing some repairs 
to her engine, but I shall hurry her off in the morn- 
ing, and the Magnolia also, as soon as I can supply 
her with fifty tons of coal. 

The Department is aware that the Oreto is not 
at this moment within the limits of my station, and I 
am quite sure Commodore Lardner will look out for 
her, as the enclosed papers will show. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept 2d, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I regret to report the escape of a steamer 
from Charleston, on the night of the 28th ult., through 
Maffitt's channel. 

At eight o'clock in the evening. Commander 
Mullany, of the Bienville, sent his launch to guard 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 295 

the entrance of that channel, in charge of Acting- 
Master Rodgers, who anchored his boat only three- 
quarters of a mile east - south - east from Fort Moul- 
trie. 

Near ten o'clock he saw a steam propeller pass- 
ing outward, close along the beach, moving silently 
and swiftly. 

He immediately fired a rocket and burned a blue 
light, the signals agreed upon, and the Bienville at 
once slipped her cable, alarmed the rest of the fleet, 
and gave chase, but was unable to see anything of 
the escaping vessel. 

Shortly afterwards guns were fired from the 
America, which, with the Flag, guards the north - east 
entrance to Maffitt's channel ; but on the Bienville 
reaching them, the steamer had succeeded in escaping 
in the darkness. 

Acting- Master Rodgers, in charge of the launch, 
reports that though the steamer passed within three 
hundred yards of him, yet when the land behind was 
higher than the hull, he could see nothing of her ; 
and it was only when she passed a low opening in 
the beach that she was in sight at all. 

I refer to this particularly, that the Department 
may be apprised of one of the great difficulties of 
the blockade of this port of Charleston. 

The above is the substance of detailed reports 
from Commander Mullany and Acting - Master Rodgers; 
presuming that the Department would prefer to have 
a condensed statement, rather than copies of the re- 
ports themselves. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



296 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 4th, 1862. 

Captain P. Drayton, United States Steamer Pawnee, 
Senior Officer, Stono : 

Sir: — On the arrival of the Paul Jones, Command- 
er Steedman, at Stona, you will transfer to that offi- 
cer the charge of those waters, giving such informa- 
tion as your long and valuable experience there will 
enable you to furnish. 

You will avail yourself of the most favorable 
condition of the tides to cross the Stono bar, and 
repair to Port Royal with the Pawnee. 

If the Ottawa can find her own way home with- 
out a tow, you can dispatch her at once to New 
York ; if not fit to do so, I will procure a steamer 
to take her North as soon as possible. In the mean- 
time she can make all preparations. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Fort Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 4th, 1862. 

Commander C. Stekdman, United States Ship 
Paul Jones, off Charleston : 

Sir : — On receipt of this order you will please 
proceed to Stono Inlet, and relieve Captain P. Drayton, 
in charge of that important station, receiving from him 
such information as his experience will enable him to 
give. 

It is not my intention to withdraw you from the 
charge of the Brunswick waters, as had been arranged, 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 297 

but it is important that the Pawnee should be enabled 
to get out of Stono by the pending spring tides. Orders 
will be dispatched to the Conemaugh to relieve you 
as soon as the Fernandina reaches Ossebaw, 

Captain Drayton will furnish you with coal, to 
enable you to wait for your relief, and reach this port 
for supplies and repairs before going to St. Simon's. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C, Sept. 4th, 1862. 

Captain S. W. Godon, United States Ship 
Powhatan : 

Sir : — So soon as you are ready, you will please 
proceed with the Powhatan, under your command, off 
Charleston, and take charge of the blockade of that 
port, receiving from the senior officer, whom you will 
relieve, such information as he may have to give. 

Your own experience in your previous command 
off that station renders it unnecessary to give you very 
minute instructions. 

The efforts to run the blockade, I regret to 
say, are increasing, with new and faster vessels, and 
within a short time with some success. I recommend 
your doing all in your power to check them, and I 
will increase your force as rapidly as I can. 

You will please exercise your best judgment in 
permitting vessels to come to Port Royal for coal, 
provisions, or repairs. 



298 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I am aware that this blockading duty is very 
exhausting and tedious, but I depend upon the zeal of 
the officers to endure its hardships with their accus- 
tomed energy. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 5th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — The iron-clads or rams built at Charleston 
have been described to me, by intelligent persons who 
have seen them, as well protected by their armor, but 
as not formidable for offensive operations against our 
vessels, in consequence of their deficiency in steam 
power, it having been intended to place in them en- 
gines taken from old steamers belonging to South 
Carolina. 

If it be true that English steam engines have been 
provided for them, as reported to me by the Depart- 
ment, it becomes my duty to urge upon it the neces- 
sity of sending some iron-clad vessels of our own, to 
render our position off Charleston tenable. 

Vessels even imperfectly covered with armor, emerg- 
ing from the protection of forts, and always provided 
with a place of refuge, would be comparatively secure, 
while they might do great harm to wooden ships, 
especially of the light class which forms the chief 
material of this squadron. If by any possibility the 
blockading force off Charleston could be destroyed, or 
compelled to retire, it would produce a moral im- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DUPON7. 299 

pression to our disadvantage even more disastrous than 
the actual loss itself. If it be possible to send the 
Ironsides to take up a position off that harbor, the 
efforts of the enemy would be completely frustrated. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 5th, 1862. 

Major-General D. Hunter, Commanding 
Department of the South : 

General: — I have been very much gratified by 
the receipt of your communication of this date, re- 
ferring to our relations, official and social, since you 
assumed the command of the Department of the South. 

You also kindly allude to the courtesy you have 
received from the officers of my command. This I 
am sure would, under our naval discipline and edu- 
cation, have been awarded to any officer holding your 
high position, irrespective of circumstances. But, Gene- 
ral, if this spirit of courtesy has been so sufficiently 
marked as to draw your especial notice, it is because 
you have elicited it by the most frank, manly, and 
generous appreciation of all the co-operations and aids 
which this squadron has had occasion to give to the 
army, — limited as our opportunities for such co-operation 
have been, — as well as by the great kindness and 
cordiality which has always been shown in your re- 
ception of the officers of the navy, whether on or 
off duty. 

I thank you for this acknowledgment, the more 
so that it has not always been a characteristic else- 
where of the joint operations of the two services. 



300 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Wishing you a safe passage, and a sphere com- 
mensurate with your fearless and patriotic devotion in 
this contest, I have the honor to be, Geijeral, 
Very respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 5th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — The Canandaigua has just arrived, bringing 
the officers and crew of the Adirondack, except five, 
who deserted to the wreckers. 

The mail is about closing, and I have only time 
to state that at night, after Captain Gansevoort had 
landed his men, the wreckers, with a spirit totally at 
variance with their ordinary conduct, destroyed the 
vessel by fire. 

Wreckers usually strive to save property, and 
their action in this case proves what has been ascer- 
tained from other sources, viz., that the fishermen, 
light-house keepers, and wreckers on the Bahamas, are 
in some way in the employ of the rebels. 

Captain Gansevoort destroyed all his large guns 
except the eleven-inch, which were thrown overboard 
and buoyed. He saved his boat, howitzers, some am- 
munition, and provisions. 

I shall send a detailed report in writing from 
him by the next mail. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 3OI 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 7th, 1862. 

Captain G. Gansevoort, United States Navy : 

Sir: — I* have received your report giving in detail 
the circumstances attending the loss of the Adirondack, 
on Man-of-war Key, of the Little Bahama Bank. 

It is marked by great clearness and frankness of 
statement. I have also gone over the charts with 
Acting Lieutenant James Parker, the officer who was 
charged with the navigation of the ship, and have been 
equally struck with his scrupulous candor in reference to 
his observations, courses steered, and general statements. 

Without desiring to anticipate any judgment that a 
a court of inquiry, which you have so promptly asked for, 
might give on a more thorough examination, I deem it 
my duty to you, and but an act of simple justice as 
your immediate commanding officer, to state that I can 
discover no want of vigilance on your part. On the 
contrary, you have shown all reasonable caution by 
twice adopting a course calculated to carry you further 
off the land than the one proposed. 

After the sad catastrophe occurred, you did all 
that I fully looked for from the energy and manli- 
ness of your character, and your skill as a seaman. 

Your report to me, that of Lieutenant Parker to 
you, and your application to the Department for a 
court of inquiry on the loss of the Adirondack, will 
all go forward to the Honorable Secretary of the Navy, 
by the United States ship Massachusetts, Commander 
Cooper, who will receive you and such of your crew 
and officers as I do not retain on the station, for a 
passage to New York. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



302 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 8th, 1862. 

Captain P. Drayton, United States 
Ship Pawnee: 

Sir: — The number of vessels belonging to this 
squadron now at the North for repairs, makes it a 
fitting occasion to suggest such improvements in their 
armament as our last year's operations and experience 
may indicate. 

The Navy Department and Ordnance Bureau are 
much alive to the introduction of such improvements, 
but are greatly pressed with the immense labors de- 
volving upon them. It has occurred to me that both 
would be gratified to be informed of our views and 
wants ; and I desire to avail myself of your knowl- 
edge of ordnance and gunnery, and of your large 
experience of the nature of this coast, and the char- 
acter of the service in these waters, to convey to the 
Bureau what changes may be desirable. 

I will not go into any minute details, but, 
among other items, I desire you to consult with 
Captain Dahlgren, the Chief of the Bureau of Ord- 
nance, in reference to the armament of what we have 
termed the regular gunboats. 

The eleven- inch gun is a favorite with me; but 
I am aware that on several occasions, some of them 
within your own immediate experience, a longer- range 
gun would have been desirable. The two hundred 
pounder rifle, on some of these boats at least, may be 
an advantageous change. 

The armament of the Augusta, at the Philadelphia 
Navy Yard, may be improved. I regretted to see the 
Powhatan come out with only a one - hundred pounder 
rifle on her immense forecastle. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 3O3 

In reference to the carrying on what may be 
termed the work of the squadron, that is, the furnish- 
ing the vessels coming in here for coal and supplies, 
in the shortest possible space of time, you are aware 
of the importance of tugs, and how invaluable they 
have been to us. One has given out, and is a total 
loss, within a few days, in consequence of not being 
coppered ; the other must soon follow. 

Please urge upon the Honorable Secretary, or Mr. 
Fox, the Assistant Secretary, the necessity of sending 
out two at once, with side - wheels, spacious decks, 
and coppered. 

The importance of having all vessels to burn coal, 
and not wood, in their galleys, also mention to the 
Construction and Equipment Bureau ; and all should 
have fresh - water condensers. 

You will leave the Pawnee, for the moment, in 
charge of her Lieutenant Commander, and take pass- 
age, in the Massachusetts, for New York ; reporting 
yourself to the Honorable Secretary in person. 

I am the more pleased at sending you on this 
important duty, as it will give you a couple of weeks 
of relaxation from the arduous services you have 
been performing on this station, in localities severely 
trying to the health, and under responsibilities of a 
very grave character. The effects of the former are 
plainly visible upon you, and the latter, though very 
wearing too, you have met with your accustomed spirit 
and moral courage. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



304 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

P. S. — I omitted to say above that you will 
apply to the Honorable Secretary to forward your re- 
turn in two weeks from the time of your arrival in 
Washington. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 8th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — In my communication of the 5th inst. I in- 
formed the Department of the return to this port of 
the Canandaigua, with the officers and crew of the 
Adirondack. 

I have now the honor to enclose to the Depart- 
ment Captain Gansevoort's detailed report of the loss 
of his ship, with a copy of that of the officer in 
charge of the chronometers, who kept the reckoning ; 
also a copy of my letter acknowledging Captain Ganse- 
voort's report to me, and an application from Cap- 
tain Gansevoort for a court of inquiry. 

These papers contain all the material facts in the 
case for the consideration of the Department. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 305 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 8th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — One of those circumstances which may be 
magnified and made the cause of complaint, occurred 
on the 6th inst., and I deem it as well to inform the 
Department of it. 

An English barque was seized by the boats of 
the Shepherd Knapp, off St. Helena Sound, having at- 
tempted to run the blockade, and sent to Port Royal. 
On approaching the guard-ship Dale, covering the 
health officer's station, some two miles seaward from 
this anchorage, it was discovered she had an Ameri- 
can flag hoisted over the English. The Dale was 
immediately telegraphed to have the American ensign 
hauled down, and the ship come up under British 
colors. 

I immediately called upon the prize officer to 
explain his action in the matter ; his reply is here- 
with enclosed. The acting volunteer lieutenant com- 
manding the Shepherd Knapp is a zealous officer, but 
wholly inexperienced in such matters, and erred no 
doubt from ignorance. I shall address him immedi- 
ately on the subject, and hold him to a strict ac- 
countability. 

I regret the circumstance, but the error was im- 
mediately repaired, as the Department will see. The 
captain of the English bark seems a Frenchman, and 
apparently ugly in his temper; and will doubtless 
make all the trouble he can in the matter. 

I avail myself of this opportunity to ask the 
Department what its views are in reference to this 
matter. No general order has been received by me 



306 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

on the subject. The American flag has generally been 
hoisted. I think the flag of the country should be 
retained until the ship be tried and condemned, — 
and will give the requisite order; but I should be 
pleased to know whether this is in accordance with 
the Department's wishes. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

^ Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 9th, 1862. 

Captain J. F. Green, United States Ship 
Canandaigua : 

Sir: — I have received your communication of the 
5th inst., detailing the execution of my orders to pro- 
ceed to the Bahamas, and relieve in every way in 
your power the crew and officers of the Adirondack, 
Captain Gansevoort, wrecked on Man-of-war Key. 

You have performed this duty with judgment and 
success, in a very expeditious manner, and entirely to 
my satisfaction. 

Understanding you have made the repairs to your 
engine, and are ready for sea, I have to direct that 
you will proceed off Charleston with the Canandaigua, 
under your command, and report to Captain Godon, 
of the Powhatan, senior officer in charge of the 
blockade of that port, for duty. 

I need hardly mention to an officer of your ex- 
perience that the blockade of this port is, at this 
moment, the most important business of this squadron, 
and one in which the reputation of the officers is 
the most involved. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 307 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 9th, 1862. 

Hon. John Cadwalader, United States District Judge, 
Philadelphia : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report that the United 
States ship Shepherd Knapp, Acting Volunteer Lieu- 
tenant H. St. C. Eytinge commanding, captured the 
barque Fanny Laurie, under Engh'sh colors, on the 
morning of the 4th inst, while attempting to enter 
South Edisto. 

She purported to be from Nassau, and bound to 
Quebec ; among her papers, however, is a letter to a 
house in Charleston. As Captain Lamier (a French- 
man, I believe) admits that he was attempting to run 
the blockade, I send her to Philadelphia for adjudica- 
tion, in charge of Acting Master J. Lindsey, who will 
deliver to you the accompanying papers found on 
board. 

Acting Master's Mate G. P. St. John, of the Shep- 
herd Knapp, was present at the capture, and can give 
all the necessary evidence. 

The master, Captain Lamier, the mate, and one of 
the crew go in the prize; the rest of the crew, viz., 
Wm. Casey, C. Morie, Chas. Hale, Chas. Johnson, Jas. 
Lee, Wm. Smith, Chas. A. Green, Thos. Wright, Walter 
Sands, and two persons who were represented to be 
passengers, viz., John Edington and Jas. H. McKenzie, 
were sent to New York by the United States steamer 
Massachusetts. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



308 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 15th, 1862. 

Commander C. Steedman, United States Ship 
Paul Jones : 

Sir: — Information just received from the St. John's 
river, Florida, makes it evident that there is a desire 
to drive our small gunboats from it, on the part of 
the Florida authorities, aided by the military and 
guerrillas. 

It is reported that Governor Milton came down, 
a few days ago, from Tallahassee, and declared that the 
gunboats must be taken ; and if taken, the officers 
and crews were to be hung as kidnappers. 

Since the withdrawal of our troops from Jackson- 
ville, as you are aware, we have been simply main- 
taining an inside blockade of the river by a very 
small force near its mouth. I had it intimated in 
various ways to the citizens and authorities of Jack- 
sonville that if the gunboats were molested from the 
banks of the river, or Union people maltreated and their 
property destroyed, I would adopt retaliatory meas- 
ures by destroying Jacksonville, etc. 

The report of the attack upon the Uncas and 
Patroon, from St. John's Bluff, you have read; it con- 
veys the nature of the warfare, and is the last news 
we have from that point. 

I have now to direct that you will proceed with 
the Paul Jones, under your command, to the St. John's 
river; taking with you, or to follow you, the Cimerone, 
Commander Woodhull, the E. B. Hale, Lieutenant Com- 
manding Snell, and the Uncas, Acting Master Crane. 
The Patroon you will find in the river. 

Please make a thorough reconnoissance of the 
river, as far as you deem it advisable and of service; 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 3O9 

going to Jacksonville and ascertaining, by a flag of 
truce, what is meant by this attack upon our boats; 
and warning responsible persons of the consequences. 
Destroy all the works on the banks which might 
be used or occupied by the rebels at any future time 
against us. 

You are aware of the law of Congress in refer- 
ence to contrabands, — to return none, by whomsoever 
claimed, but make a proper entry in the log - book of 
the name of the fugitive, and owner or claimant. 

As you are aware, I have every confidence in 
your zeal and judgment; your force is very strong 
in one sense, but not of that kind to prevent great 
annoyance by musketry from the banks of the river; 
and I rely upon your discretion to save your crews 
as much as possible from this, consistently with the 
execution of your orders. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. i6th, 1862. 

Commander A. S. Baldwin, United States Ship 
James Adger : 

Sir : — I had hoped that the James Adger might 
have been rendered available for a few weeks further 
blockading service off Charleston ; but as she is rep- 
resented to be so greatly in need of repairs, I have 
to direct her immediate return to the North. You 
will therefore proceed in her to Baltimore, where a 
new steam drum has been built for her by order of 
the Navy Department. 



3IO OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Upon your arrival, you will report to the senior 
naval officer in that station, and through him to the 
Secretary of the Navy. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 17th, 1862. 

Acting Volunteer Lieutenant J. F. Nickels, United States 
Ship Onward : 

Sir: — Having returned from the inspection of the 
Onward, under your command, I consider it my duty 
to say that I have been gratified by the cleanliness, 
good order, and excellent arrangements of your ship, 
the fine appearance of your crew, and the general evi- 
dence of proper supervision. 

I think it also right to add that you have always 
shown energy and zeal in the execution of my orders. 

Wishing you a quick run to New York, I am, 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. i8th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report to the Depart- 
ment that the United States barque Braziliera, Acting 
Master Commanding W. T. Gillespie, captured the 
schooner Defiance, of Nassau, in Sapelo Sound, at- 
tempting to run the blockade, on the 7th inst. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 311 

Her cargo consists of salt, kerosene oil, soap, cas- 
carilla bark, etc., etc. She also had in her cargo about 
ninety-six boxes containing cases of gin, which Acting 
Master Gillespie, for the safety of the schooner on her 
passage North, took out of the vessel, and placed in 
the spirit room of the Braziliera. It will be sent to 
Philadelphia by the first opportunity. 

The prize schooner, needing repairs, came into this 
port, and will proceed to-morrow to Philadelphia for 
adjudication. 

She is in charge of Acting Master R. F. Cook, 
of the Braziliera. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 

P. S. — Enclosed is a muster-roll of the officers 
and crew of the Braziliera entitled to share in the 
prize money. 

S. F. D. P., 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 19th, 1862. 

Messrs. Cutting, Selden, et als., 

Rochester, New York : 

Gentlemen: — I received to-day your communica- 
tion of the 5th inst., calling my attention to certain 
complaints, made by Acting Assistant Paymaster Strong, 
of improper treatment at the hands of his commander, 
Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Baxter, commanding the 
barque Gem of the Sea, one of the vessels of my 
squadron. 



312 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Your letter is addressed in a tone and spirit 
which commands my attention and respect, and I will 
answer it with equal courtesy and frankness. 

The exigencies of the war have caused vessels to 
be armed and officered by persons who never were in 
the navy before, either as commanders or subordi- 
nates. It must therefore occasionally happen that the 
former have no knowledge or experience in controlling 
their officers and crew, and the latter no conception 
of that discipline, subordination, and respect to author- 
ity which constitutes the difference between a man-of- 
war and a passenger - ship. 

The Gem of the Sea joined my squadron on the 
7th of November, and soon after was dispatched on 
blockading duty. On her return to Port Royal, near 
the end of March, Paymaster Strong, the surgeon, 
and one or two of the other officers requested to be 
detached from the ship ; a request which could not 
then be granted. Failing in this, and just before the 
vessel was going to sea, they all sent in their resig- 
nations at the same time, apparently in concert with 
each other ; thus rendering the ship useless. 

I sent for them into my cabin, reminded them 
that their course of action amounted to a combination, 
and, if persisted in, would oblige me to place them 
under arrest. 

I listened to their grievances, calmly instructed 
them in their duties, enjoined the necessity of disci- 
pline, and earnestly inculcated harmony, informing them, 
however, in consequence of the course taken by them, 
I should order them to proceed in the vessel to the 
blockading post ; but if, on her return, they would 
present their complaints in proper form, I would in- 
vestigate them fully. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 3I3 

On the nth of April, the Gem of the Sea was 
dispatched on blockading duty off Georgetown, and 
returned to Port Royal again about the middle of 
June ; and, after remaining nearly a week, proceeded 
once more off Georgetown, the out -post station of 
my squadron on the north. 

During the time of her stay no complaints were 
made by any of her officers who had previously sent 
in their resignations ; and I concluded that all diffi- 
culties had been smoothed away. 

The hopes that I then entertained of harmony on 
board that ship appear, however, not to have been 
realized ; and as the vessel has been out on this 
station over ten months, I purpose to order her to 
proceed from Georgetown to New York, so soon as 
she can be relieved, where any complaints or charges 
that the officers may have to make can be investigated. 

In justice to Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Baxter, 
I must add that he has been under fire on several occa- 
sions, and has been spoken of in very high terms by 
his senior officers. 

I am, gentlemen, respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 19th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor ' to inform the Depart- 
ment that I have dispatched the following vessels to 
the North: — 

The Ino, Acting Master Devans commanding, to 
New York, with a number of men from the squadron 



3 1 4 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

whose times are out, and for whom there was no room 
on the Massachusetts. The Ino was also in want of 
certain outfits which could not be supplied here, and 
was without a proper complement of officers and crew. 
She sailed on the nth inst. 

The Onward, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Nickels 
commanding, to New York, to be docked, in conse- 
quence of injuries received from running aground. She 
sailed on the i8th inst. 

The James Adger, Commander Baldwin, to Balti- 
more, to receive on board the new steam chimney con- 
structing there. This steamer is in want of other 
repairs. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 20th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform the Depart- 
ment of the departure, on the 17th inst, for Philadel- 
phia, of the United States sloop Dale. 

This vessel has been long in commission, and her 
crew twice threatened with scurvy. They are a fine 
body of men, and though the Dale has been a ser- 
viceable vessel in her way, the crew would be more 
useful if transferred to a steamer. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 315 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 20th, 1862. 

Commander C. Steedman, Senior Officer, 
St. John's River: 

Sir : — I have filled up the Uncas with ammuni- 
tion, with which she leaves in the morning. I regret 
to say, however, there are no shells for the one- 
hundred -pounder rifle. I may direct the Uncas to go 
into Wassaw and obtain a few from the Sebago. 

I have received your official report of operations 
in the St. John's, and see the propriety of your sug- 
gestions that some troops should land and take the 
batteries in the rear, in order to secure the garrison 
when shelled out by the gunboats. 

General Brannan will proceed on Monday with 
some fifteen hundred men, with whom I recommend a 
cordial and efficient co-operation. 

From information furnished by Acting Master Crane, 
and by contrabands, the troops can be landed at the 
creek below the bluff. 

I would recommend that in the meantime you will 
disturb the rebels by an occasional shot, and keep 
them from improving their work until the troops 
arrive. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



3l6 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 21st, 1862. 

Major - General Mitchell, Commanding 
Department of the South : 

General: — When the communication from your 
Adjutant- General came to-day, the weather had not 
quite declared itself, and I felt like deferring an hour 
or two before making the suggestion, which I do not 
now hesitate to make, that the troops should not em- 
bark until this storm is over. 

The discomfort to them is very great under any 
delay, and the bars are rendered impassable on the coast, 
generally, particularly the St. John's, until a day or so 
after a storm. 

My force, as you are aware, is on the river, ex- 
cepting the vessel with the supply of ammunition, 
which will precede the expedition. It is for the troops 
that I feel concern, and hence this note. 

I am, General, with great respect, yours, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 23d, 1862. 

Major-General O. M. Mitchell, Commanding 
Department of the South: 

General: — As you requested me, I think I may 
venture to say that, from present appearances, as far as 
the weather is concerned, the transports may leave at 
any time that you may deem best. 

The bar at St. John's is still in a disturbed con- 
dition, no doubt, but I hope will be passable in a day 
or two, in which case, as the spring tides are making. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 317 

it is desirable that the vessels should take advantage 
of them. 

The Uncas left this morning by the inland pas- 
sage, and the Water Witch outside, and though the 
latter has to call at two places, I have no doubt 
both will be at St. John's before the arrival of the 
troops. 

I deem it proper to say that as this is the 
month of September, during which the weather is 
always unsettled, in case the transports find it danger- 
ous to cross the St. John's bar, they can run into 
Fernandina ; in which event it would be of the utmost 
importance to keep the destination of the expedition 
secret, as there is constant communication between Fer- 
nandina and the St. John's. 

Please accept my thanks for the information you 
kindly sent me [to-day, in reference to the rams at 
Savannah. 

I am. General, respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 26th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — Several reasons, not necessary to trouble 
the Department with, but based on a full experience 
of our necessities here, induce me to suggest the ad- 
vantage of having a coal hulk in this harbor, capable 
of holding say a thousand tons. My impression is she 
will pay for herself in a limited period by saving 



3l8 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

demurrage on the chartered vessels bringing coal. I 
never proposed a depot on shore, because it involved 
the construction of an extensive wharf. 

If fitted with small engines, and other facilities for 
hoisting in coal, the principal delay in dispatching the 
steamers when they run in for supplies will be ob- 
viated. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 26th, 1862. 

To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of the Department's communication of the 12th 
inst., enclosing a letter from a seaman on board the 
steamer Uncas, addressed to the Hon. J. P. Hale. 

The Uncas is now in the St. John's River, and I 
shall send orders by the first opportunity to the senior 
officer there to institute at the earliest moment prac- 
ticable the inquiry directed by the Department. I have 
no doubt there may be more or less foundation for 
the statements. 

The Department well knows the origin of these 
complaints; they spring from the exigencies of the 
war, which have compelled it to receive very frequently 
into the service, before trial, persons who are wholly- 
incompetent to command ; the more so that the offi- 
cers under them are still more ignorant than them- 
selves of all ideas of that subordination and discipline 
which constitute the difference between a passenger-ship 
and a man-of-war. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 31^ 

I have had three vessels of this description in my 
fleet, which had not a single regular officer on board, 
and they have been a source of worry and anxiety to 
me, for the Department is aware how almost impossi- 
ble it is to hold courts of inquiry and courts -martial 
when engaged in war service ; the detention of ships 
and witnesses for this purpose in harbor would be 
most deleterious to the public interest. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 26th, 1862. 

Major - General O. M. Mitchell, Commanding 
Department of the South : 

General: — The gunboat Potomska is just in, 
three days from Hampton Roads. 

She brings me an order from the Navy Depart- 
ment to report at Washington without delay, on matters 
connected with my command. 

As this order is dated so far back as the loth 
inst., I feel it incumbent to leave in the morning ; 
otherwise I should have the satisfaction of taking leave 
of you in person. 

I shall go in one of my smaller steamers, which 
will enable me to leave the Wabash for the better 
protection of this harbor. 

The senior officer in my place is Captain S. W. 
Godon, now off Charleston. I will direct him to repair 
to Port Royal ; his headquarters will be on the 
Vermont. 



320 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I purpose leaving between seven and eight o'clock 
in the morning, and hope to be back in a couple of 

weeks. 

With great respect, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Sept. 26th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

Sir : — I have the honor to report to the Depart- 
ment the po.sitions on blockade of the vessels of my 
squadron: — 

At Georgetown, S. C, steamer Norwich, and a small 
steam tug captured from the rebels. 

Off Bull's Bay, the Gemsbok. 

Off Charleston, steamers Powhatan, Canandaigua, 
Housatonic, Mercedita, South Carolina, Bienville, Marble- 
head, Flambeau ; schooners America and G. W. Blunt. 

In Stono, the Conemaugh and Ellen. 

In North Edisto, the Huron. 

In St. Helena Sound, the Shepherd Knapp. 

In Wassaw Sound, the Sebago. 

In Ossebaw Sound, steamers Vixen and Dawn, and 
barque Fernandina. 

In St. Catherine's, the barque Braziliera. 

In Sapelo, the Madgie. 

In St. Simon's, the Wamsutta and Pawnee. 

In St. Andrew's, the Florida. 

At Fernandina, the Sumter. 

In St. John's River, the Paul Jones, Water Witch, 
E. B. Hale, Uncas, and Patroon. These steamers, with 
the Cimerone (which put in to Port Royal for repairs), 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 32 1 

in conjunction with a detachment from the army, 
under Brigadier -General Brannan, are operating in the 
St. John's River to destroy some batteries of the enemy 
lately erected. 

Off the Fishing Rip (Port Royal), as guard-ship, 
the Vandalia. 

In the harbor of Port Royal, the Wabash, Ver- 
mont, Flag, Alabama, Mohawk, and bark Restless; of 
these, the last four are undergoing repairs and taking 
in provisions. 

The Hope is used chiefly as a dispatch vessel. 

The high -pressure steamers Planter and Darling- 
ton have been transferred to the army. 

The Pawnee has to-day been ordered from St, 
Simon's to Wassaw, to reinforce the Sebago, and the 
Florida to Ossebaw, to assist in blocking up the 
Nashville. 

Flag Ship Keystone State, 

Off Charleston, Sept. 27th, 1862. 

Since the above was written, I have, in obedience 
to the Department's order of the lOth inst., transferred 
my flag to the Keystone State, on my way to Phila- 
delphia. 

I have examined again the positions of the block- 
ading vessels off this port. They are most judiciously 
placed ; yet I must report to the Department that 
they are too few in number. 

I trust that some of the steamers which have 
gone North for repairs, particularly the gunboats, are 
on their way to rejoin this squadron. 

Captain Godon, of the Powhatan, proceeds to Port 
Royal to assume charge of the squadron during my 
absence. He will take up his residence on board the 



322 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Vermont, as it was impossible to spare the Powhatan 
from off Charleston. 

I have the satisfaction to inform the Department, 
that, during the past week, one steamer has been pre- 
vented from getting in to Charleston, and another 
driven back and shelled by the Flambeau while tem- 
porarily on the beach under the batteries. A schooner 
was also driven back by the Norwich, a few nights 
previous. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Oct. 23d, 1862. 

Commander W. E. Le Roy, United States Ship 
Keystone State : 

Sir: — You will please proceed with the Keystone 
State, under your command, and report to the senior 
officer off Charleston for blockading duty. 

Having had my flag so often on board your ship, 
affording so many opportunities of judging of her 
efficiency, good order, discipline, and harmony, with 
your promptitude and zeal in carrying out my orders 
on other occasions, I deem this, after our recent asso- 
ciation a fitting moment to express my warm com- 
mendation and high appreciation of your services dur- 
ing the whole period that you have been attached to 
this squadron. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 323 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Oct. 24th, 1862. 

T. W. Summers, United States Hospital, Sixth below 
Race Street, Phila. : 

Dear Sir: — I return the enclosed letter which, 
with the one from my nephew, I found waiting my 
return from the North, three days since ; with it I 
have the painful duty of announcing the death of your 
brother. He died on board of the Wabash, on the 
15th of October, at 10.30 P. M. Taking cold, fever 
supervened, which went into typhoid. He had skillful 
and kind medical attendance, with every care through- 
out his illness, which lasted from the 15th of Septem- 
ber to the above date. He was decently interred at Bay 
Point; and the chaplain of the Wabash, the Rev. Mr. 
Dorrance, read the service over his remains. 

He spoke of his mother ; earnestly entreated to 
be allowed to go and see her, after he was unable 
to walk ; requested a letter might be sent to Colonel 
Crammer, Augusta, Georgia, stating he was sick. 

He and three other men, showing a white flag on 
the shore of Nassau Inlet, were sent for, and received 
on board one of the gunboats, and transmitted to me 
here. They had their carbines. Two declared them- 
selves deserters, and were immediately sent North. 
Taking the oath of allegiance, the other two, your 
brother being one, said they were priso?iers, and had 
come unexpectedly on the gunboats, and wished to be so 
considered. One, named Scott, was landed and handed 
over to the provost marshal at Hilton Head. Your 
brother, being sick, was retained on board and died. 

While North I was called upon by Scott's wife, 
who was in Savannah when her husband deserted, and 
endeavored to prevent his doing so; but he replied 



324 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

he could not live under such a government any longer ; 
and yet, when he came on board, refused to be con- 
sidered a deserter, but a prisoner. He may have in- 
fluenced your brother to take the same view for some 
fancied advantage. 

Regretting to have to convey to you this melan- 
choly information, and sympathizing with the parents 
and relations of the deceased, I am, sir, 
Respectfully yours, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Admiral Commanding. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Roj'al Harbor, S. C, Oct. 25th, 1862. 

Hon. John Cadwallader, United States District Judge, 
Philadelphia : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report that the United 
States schooner America, Acting Master J. Baker, 
commanding, captured the schooner David Crockett, 
on the night of the 13th inst, attempting to run the 
blockade out of Charleston, by Dewey's Inlet. 

The schooner, being in a leaky condition, was dis- 
patched to this port, when a survey was ordered upon 
her. The Board condemned her as unseaworthy, and 
appraised the value of the vessel at two hundred and 
fifty dollars. The cargo, according to their report 
(hereby enclosed), consisted of one hundred and seventy- 
five barrels spirits turpentine, and thirteen barrels rosin, 
but this estimate was made from memoranda, and 
without breaking bulk. 

The cargo has been transferred to the brig Abby 
Ellen, and sent to Philadelphia. In this transhipment 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 325 

it was ascertained that there were one hundred and 
seventy-two barrels turpentine, and ten barrels rosin. 
Of the turpentine, ten barrels were retained for the 
use of the squadron, there being a necessary demand 
for the same. The cargo shipped by the Abby Ellen 
consists of one hundred and sixty-two barrels of tur- 
pentine, and ten barrels rosin, consigned (as per bill 
of lading enclosed) to you. 

No ship's papers were found on board ; the only 
papers being letters which, with this communication, 
will be delivered to you by F. A. Gilmore, master of 
the Abby Ellen. 

I send by the brig the master of the prize, William 
Thomson, and one of the crew, William Travis. The 
mate and three others of the crew, with two passen- 
gers, will be sent North by the first opportunity. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



(Confidential.) 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Oct. 25th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

Sir: — I enclose copy of a communication of the 
2 1 St inst. from Lieutenant Commander Scott, of the 
Sebago, giving information derived from a deserter from 
Savannah. 

Whatever inaccuracies there may be in the details 
of such statements, there is a general concurrence as 
to points which should be noted, viz., that three iron- 
clads, with rams, are building at Savannah, and two at 



326 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Charleston. The Fingal, all agree, has a very powerful 
engine ; when she is completed it is the intention to 
take up the Nashville and clad her. 

This man reports he overheard a conversation 
between General Mercer and Commodore Tatnall, in 
which the former said " They are moving in Virginia ; 
we ought to be doing something here." " Yes," re- 
plied Tatnall, " we ought, but I am not going to sea 
in this vessel alone ; I must be joined by the Charles- 
ton vessels." 

The idea seemed to be to open the Savannah 
river, then come to Port Royal, and thence off Charles- 
ton, and raise the blockade. 

Since the above was written two contrabands have 
come in, one a stevedore, who works on the wharves, 
both more intelligent than the white men. They state 
the Fingal to be ready ; think she will draw a great 
deal of water, however (16 feet); her roof nearly down 
to the water's edge. Two others are building ; a third 
was commenced, but the work stopped for some reason. 

They confirm the report that the Nashville is laid 
up, having entirely unloaded her cotton, and is now 
moored at the railroad bridge, fifteen miles from Sa- 
vannah. Large quantities of cotton are collecting in 
Savannah, all baled for storage. Four thousand con- 
trabands are at work on the entrenchments round Sa- 
vannah ; all would leave and come to the coast if 
they dared. 

I submit that the Ironsides and Passaic should be 
dispatched at an early day. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 337 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Oct. 27th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

Sir : — I have the honor to report to the Depart- 
ment the following positions of the vessels of the 
South Atlantic blockading squadron : — 

At Georgetown, steamer Norwich. 

In Bull's Bay, barque Restless. 

Off Charleston, steamers Powhatan, Canandaigua, 
Housatonic, Mercedita, South Carolina, Bienville, Flag, 
Flambeau, Seneca, Memphis, Quaker City, Keystone 
State, and schooner G. W. Blunt. 

In Stono, steamer Isaac Smith. 

At North Edisto, steamer Unadilia. 

In St. Helena Sound, barque Shepherd Knapp. 

In Wassaw, steamers Conemaugh and Pawnee. 

In Ossebaw, steamers Wissahickon and Dawn, and 
barque Fernandina. 

In St. Simon's, and guarding also St. Catherine's, 
Sapelo, and Doboy, steamers Paul Jones, Wamsutta, 
Madgie, Potomska, Western World, and barque Brazilicra. 

In St. Andrew's, barque Midnight (relieving barque 
Gemsbok, sent to Turtle Bay). 

At Fernandina, steamer Mohawk. 

In St. John's river, steamers Cimerone and E. B. 
Hale. 

Guard-ship at Port Royal, Vandalia. 

In Port Royal, Wabash and Vermont, and the fol- 
lowing vessels undergoing repairs, viz. : Water Witch, 
Uncas, Patroon, Marblehead, Sebago, and Florida ; 
schooner Hope, dispatch vessel. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



328 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Oct. 28th, 1862. 

Commander C. Steedman, United States Ship 
Paul Jones, Port Royal : 

Sir : — You will please proceed with the Paul 
Jones, under your command, to St. Simon's, and take 
charge of the blockade of that station and the con- 
tiguous waters. 

General Saxton is desirous of sending the Dar- 
lington up the Altamaha for supplies of rice for the 
contrabands. Please give her such protection as may 
be desirable, and which will not interfere with your 
blockading duties. 

All friendly contrabands asking protection you will 
receive and retain, if need be, until sent for by Gen- 
eral Saxton. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 

P. S. — I learn the condition of the Western 
World requires her to return at once to Port Royal. 

You will therefore dispatch her to this port ; and 
whatever excess of stores she may have you will 
distribute to the other vessels. 

Lieutenant Commander Semmes had better take 
passage in her to this place. 

S. F. D. P. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 329 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Oct. 28th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to forward, for the in- 
formation of the Department, the enclosed copy of a 
report by Acting Lieutenant Watmough, commanding 
the United States ship Memphis, of the capture of 
the EngUsh steamer Ouachita, on the 14th inst., on 
his way to join my squadron. 

The steamer, when overtaken, was disabled in her 
boilers by her efforts to escape, and was towed to 
this harbor by the Memphis. 

I shall send her North for adjudication, so soon 
as I can get a tow for her. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Oct. 28th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report to the Depart- 
ment that on the morning of the 20th inst., between 
the hours of two and three o'clock, a steamer suc- 
ceeded in running the blockade off Charleston. She 
passed to the northward of the Rattlesnake Shoal, and 
was first discovered by the schooner Blunt, who made 
the usual signals, and fired at her, but could not pur- 
sue, as there was no wind. The Flambeau was on the 
alert, and soon after discovering the steamer, Lieuten- 
ant Commander Upshur slipped his chain and com- 



330 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

menced firing, but though he discharged nine shells at 
her, did not succeed in arresting her progress. He 
pursued her until his own vessel was under the fire 
of the rebel batteries. 

In the morning it was discovered that the steamer 
had run aground, close to Fort Moultrie, and was 
apparently bilged. 

By the Charleston papers, since received, it appears 
that this steamer was the Minho ; that she will per- 
haps become a wreck, as there is much water in the 
hold, and part of the cargo floating about in the vessel. 
So much of the cargo, it is stated, as may be destroyed 
by water, will be nearly a total loss. 

I regret the escape of this vessel, but under the 
circumstances, owing to the darkness of the night and 
haziness of the atmosphere, rendering it difficult to dis- 
cover a vessel only a short distance off, I can attach 
no blame to the officers on the blockade. 

I enclose Lieutenant Commander Upshur's report. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C, Oct. 29th, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commander R. W. Scott, United States 
Ship Sebago : 

Sir : — In forwarding your orders from the Navy 
Department, detaching you from the command of the 
Sebago, and directing you to return North, I desire 
to express my commendation of the uniform and effi- 
cient manner in which you have performed your several 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 33 I 

duties ; evincing a ready zeal to remain out on the 
station when your services, and those of your ship, 
were required. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Oct. 29th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — I have the pleasure to report to the De- 
partment the capture on the 24th inst. of the British 
steamer Scotia, by the United States barque Restless, 
Acting Volunteer Lieutenant E. Conroy, commanding at 
Bull's Bay. 

The steamer was discovered at daylight, standing 
towards Bull's Island. Acting Volunteer Lieutenant 
Conroy immediately got under way with his vessel, 
and at the same time sent two armed boats to the 
leeward of the steamer, which forced her to run ashore. 
He then ran in with the Restless to cut her off and 
keep her from running out, should she get off before 
the boats could reach her. 

When the boats got alongside it was discovered 
that the captain (an old offender named Libby), with a 
gentleman and lady (passengers), had left the steamer 
in an open boat ; the crew were in a state of in- 
toxication, so they became almost unmanageable, and 
Lieutenant Conroy ordered them to be transferred on 
board the Restless, and put in irons. 

Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Conroy did not suc- 
ceed in getting her off until the morning of the 26th, 



332 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

during which time he was obh'ged to anchor with the 
Restless within gunshot of the prize, to protect her, 
and at low tide his own vessel touched bottom several 
times, but without sustaining any material injury. He 
reports the loss, by drowning, of John Martin (S.), of 
the Restless, and a fireman of the Scotia, in conse- 
quence of the swamping of a boat in trying to get out 
a hawser. 

In getting off the Scotia, and afterwards in bring- 
ing her to Port Royal, the engineers of that vessel 
rendered every assistance in their power, for which 
Lieutenant Conroy promised that they should receive 
compensation. 

I have further the honor to report the capture, 
at Bull's Bay, on the 27th inst., of the British steamer 
Anglia, by the boats of the United States ship Flag. 

The Restless, then under command of Acting Mas- 
ter Griswold (Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Conroy being 
temporarily absent on duty in the Scotia), had discov- 
ered the steamer entering Bull's Bay the evening be- 
fore, but she having passed so far to windward of 
her, the Restless could not prevent her getting in ; 
and having only one small boat belonging to the ship, 
Acting Master Griswold did not think it prudent to 
send her in pursuit, but he got the Restless in posi- 
tion to command the channel, for the purpose of pre- 
venting the escape of the steamer. 

On the next day, the Flag, having Acting Volunteer 
Lieutenant Conroy on board, on his way to join his 
vessel, arrived at the anchorage of the Restless, and 
on receiving the above information. Commander Strong, 
under the pilotage of Acting Volunteer Lieutenant 
Conroy, ran the Flag close to the bar, which his 
vessel could not cross, and dispatched four armed 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 333 

boats, under charge of Lieutenant Commander Car- 
penter and Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Conroy, inside 
of Bull's Island. 

The steamer was discovered on shore, near Jack's 
Creek, about four miles from the entrance of Bull's 
Bay, but was soon safely got off. All of her officers 
and crew were on board (except the pilot and six 
men, who had gone to Charleston the evening pre- 
vious), and, according to Lieutenant Commander Car- 
penter's report, rendered every assistance in getting 
her off. Lieutenant Conroy piloted the Anglia out 
of Bull's Bay and over the bar. 

The Anglia, when captured, was almost out of 
coal, and was sent by Captain Godon, senior officer 
off Charleston, to this harbor to be supplied. She is 
the same vessel which attempted, on the night of the 
19th of September last, to enter Charleston harbor 
by Sanford's channel ; but was headed off, though she 
succeeded in escaping in the darkness. I shall dis- 
patch both these steamers North as soon as practicable. 

Before closing this dispatch, I cannot forbear 
calling the attention of the Department to the energy 
and activity displayed on all occasions by Acting 
Volunteer Lieutenant Conroy, of the Restless. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



334 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Oct. 30th, 1862. 

Commander M. Woodhull, United States Ship 
Cimerone, St. John's : 

Sir : — I learn from Fernandina that two schooners 
are loading with cotton and turpentine, at Nassau, 
Florida. At high water there is from nine and one- 
half to ten feet of water, but not more. There was 
a battery there, which was abandoned when we cap- 
tured Fernandina ; if vessels are loading, they may 
have put up some work to protect them. 

Will you please send the Hale to examine into 
this, feeling her way, and capture the schooners. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Oct. 31st, 1862. 

United States Prize Commissioners, New York : 

Gentlemen : — I have to report to you the capture 
of the British steamer Anglia, from Nassau, on the 
27th inst, at Bull's Bay, for violating the blockade. 

This steamer entered Bull's Bay on the 26th, 
passing the armed sailing barque Restless, which, on 
account of the wind, could not intercept her. She 
grounded, however, after entering; and on the next 
day Commander Strong, of the United States ship 
Flag, sent in four boats, under the command of Lieu- 
tenant Commander Charles C. Carpenter, the executive 
officer of that ship, and Acting Volunteer Lieutenant 
E. Conroy, commanding the Restless. They found the 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 335 

Anglia ashore, about four miles from the entrance of 
Bull's Bay, but succeeded, in a short time, in getting 
her off safely. 

Being out of coal, the steamer was brought to 
this port ; and I now send her to New York for 
adjudication, under charge of Lieutenant Commander 
Carpenter, who will deliver to you this communication, 
and the papers found on board, and will give the 
necessary evidence as to her capture. Acting Master 
Griswold will also give his testimony in the case. 

The captain, second engineer, third engineer, the 
storekeeper, carpenter, and twelve of the crew, go 
North in the prize. The rest of the crew, nineteen in 
number, go North in the United States ship Florida, 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. ist, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

Sir: — The Florida came into port a few days ago, 
and has been repaired sufficiently to enable her to go 
to New York, where her njachinery awaits her. 

She sailed this morning, with invalids and crews 
of prizes. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



336 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. ist, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to enclose an appraise- 
ment of the yacht America, the circumstances of the 
raising of which vessel, in the St. John's river, where 
she had been sunk by the rebels, have been previously 
communicated to the Department. 

As I have sent the America to New York for 
repairs, I concluded it proper to have this appraise- 
ment made before she sailed. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. ist, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to enclose the report of 
Commander C. Steedman, of the Paul Jones, detailing 
the movements of the gunboats placed under his charge 
in an expedition undertaken to destroy the railroad 
bridge near Pocotaligo. 

This expedition was organized and partially carried 
out during my absence, though I was at Port Royal 
when the gunboats and troops returned. 

As the Department will perceive by the report of 
Commander Steedman, as well as that of Lieutenant 
Lloyd Phenix, of the Wabash, our men behaved with 
their usual gallantry. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 337 

The only casualties were to the men of this ship, 
three of whom were wounded ; one, Oscar Farenholt, 
seriously, and two, David Morrow and John Barnard, 
slightly. I enclose Fleet Surgeon Clymer's report. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. ist, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — Enclosed is the report of a board of offi- 
cers on the condition of the quarters of the Patroon 
for officers and men. 

Incidentally, I had heard complaints on this sub- 
ject before ; and the vessel being now in harbor, I 
ordered the above survey to ascertain whether the 
defects referred to could be remedied. 

The Department will perceive by the report that, 
in the opinion of the board, there is no remedy for 
the evils complained of, and that she is totally unfit 
for the service in which she is employed. 

In this view I am, from my own knowledge, forced 
to concur; and though the Patroon, from her light 
draft, would be under other circumstances a useful 
vessel in my squadron, yet, as the Department is 
aware, discomforts of this nature, after a certain length 
of time, produce discontent, and demoralize men and 
officers. I have therefore deemed it best to send her 
to New York, under Acting Master W. D. Uraim, 
directing him to report his arrival to the Department 
in writing. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

22 Rear Admiral. 



338 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Oct. 2d, 1862. 

Brigadier-General Saxton, Military Governor, 
South Carolina: 

General: — I received this morning a dispatch 
from the senior officer at Georgetown, in which he 
informs me that he has two hundred and fifty con- 
trabands under his charge, very destitute of clothing, 
and others coming in every day. 

I regret I cannot offer you any assistance in the 
way of transportation. I have directed Commander 
Duncan to supply such with clothing as are absolutely 
suffering for want of it. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 3d, 1S62. 

Lieutenant Commander J. G. Maxwell, United States 
Ship Pawnee : 

Sir : — As soon as you are ready you will please 
proceed with the Pawnee, under your command, to 
Philadelphia, and on your arrival there you will report 
yourself to the commandant of the yard, and through 
him to the Secretary of the Navy. 

The Pawnee has been a long time out, and I 
now send her North that the vessel may undergo re- 
pairs, and the officers and crew take some relaxation. 

I take this occasion to express my satisfaction at 
the manner in which you have commanded the Paw- 
nee since Captain Drayton left her. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S..F. DU PONT. 339 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 3d, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — 1 have to inform you that I am dis- 
patching this day the Pawnee to Philadelphia, where 
she was built and her machinery made. 

The Pawnee has been longer on duty here, with- 
out going North, than any vessel in my squadron, 
and during this time has been occupying stations very 
trying to the health, rendering a change desirable to 
her crew and officers. 

This steamer, under her zealous and efficient com- 
mander, Captain P. Drayton, with her light draft, and 
heavy armament, has been invaluable in our operations 
on the coast, as well as in holding the inland waters. 
She returns under her Lieutenant Commander J. G. Max- 
well, who succeeded to the command on Captain Dray- 
ton going North, and who has been attached to her 
during her entire cruise. 

I may also mention that Lientenants Weidman 
and Samson, though more recently attached to her, 
have both served in the squadron since its organi- 
zation, and did not return to the North in the vessels 
to which they were originally attached. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 



340 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 6th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — The Western World, perforated by worms, 
and otherwise injured, must be dispatched North at 
once, or will soon be beyond the reach of repairs. 

I have to enclose reports of an unsatisfactory 
character, as to the state of discipline on board of 
her, similar to those of several of the vessels of this 
squadron in like circumstances ; such as the Gem of 
the Sea ; the Onward, temporarily ; the Uncas and 
Patroon. 

The Department has been advised by me as to 
the foundation of these difficulties, as a general rule; 
the exigencies of the public service not allowing even 
one regular officer in their complement. Some of the 
commanding officers have not the faculty of controlling 
those under them, and among the latter are many 
officers who are ignorant and insubordinate in spirit. 

By directing the senior officers of divisions pres- 
ent to investigate such matters, changing commanding 
officers, and removing refractory sailors, I have done 
all in my power to meet the evil. Investigations by 
courts of inquiry, and trials by courts -martial, when the 
latter have been authorized, involve serious detriment to 
the public service, by detaining ships for members and 
witnesses, and weakening the blockade. 

As the Western World goes North, the Depart- 
ment can take such action as it may deem fit in the 
matter of the enclosed reports. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 34 1 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 7th, 1862. 

Brigadier-General J. M. Brannan, Commanding 
Department of the South : 

General : — I have the honor to acknowledge the 
receipt of your communication, of the 5th inst, enclosing 
an extract from your report of the recent expedition 
to Pocotaligo bridge. 

Please accept my thanks for the kind manner in 
which you have spoken of the officers in my squadron 
who accompanied you in that expedition. 

I am glad to find that the same cordiality ex- 
isted on that occasion, between the two branches of 
the service, as has heretofore been [^invariably the case 
in this Department. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

• Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 7th, 1862. 

Brigadier - General Brannan, Commanding 
Department of the South : 

General : — In reply to your communication of 
the 5th inst., referring to the one - hundred - pounder 
Parrott gun now on the Vermont, left here by the 
Pawnee, I take pleasure in saying that the gun, with 
ammunition, is at your service, and will be delivered 
to you whenever you have an opportunity to send 
for it. 

I am, General, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



342 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 8th, 1862. 

United States Prize Commissioners, 
New York : 

Gentlemen : — I have to report to you the cap- 
ture on the 24th ult. of the British steamer Scotia, by 
the United States barque Restless, Acting Volunteer 
Lieutenant E. Conroy commanding, at Bull's Bay. 

The steamer was discovered at daylight, standing 
towards Bull's Island. Acting Volunteer Lieutenant 
Conroy immediately got under way with his vessel, and 
at the same time sent two armed boats to the leeward 
of the steamer, which forced her to run ashore. H e 
then ran in with the Restless to cut her off, and keep 
her from running out should she get off before the 
boats could reach her. 

When th^ boats got alongside it was discovered 
that the captain (an old offender, named Libby), with 
a gentleman and lady (passengers), had left the steamer 
in an open boat. The crew were in a state of intoxi- 
cation, so that they became almost unmanageable, and 
Lieutenant Conroy ordered them to be transferred on 
board the Restless and put in irons. 

Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Conroy did not suc- 
ceed in getting her off until the morning of the 26th, 
during which time he was obliged to anchor the Rest- 
less within gunshot of the prize, to protect her, and 
at low tide his own vessel touched bottom several 
times, but without sustaining material injury. He re- 
ports the loss by drowning of John Martin (S.), of the 
Restless, and a firemen of the Scotia, in consequence 
of the swamping of a boat in trying to get out a 
hawser. 

The machinery of the Scotia having sustained some 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 343 

injury, she was sent to Port .Royal in charge of Act- 
ing Master J. B. Rodgers, of the Restless, for repairs 
before going North. 

She proceeds to New York to-day under charge 
of the acting master, who will deliver to you this 
communication and the papers of the prize (which were 
all that were found on board), and will furnish the 
necessary evidence. 

The chief mate, Hines (the captain having escaped, 
as above mentioned), two assistant engineers, and eleven 
of the crew, go North in her. The rest of the officers 
and crew were sent to New York a few days ago in 
the United States ship Florida. 

Eight of the prize crew continue to do duty as 
firemen. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

. Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. lolh, 1862. 

Acting \'olunteer Lieutenant E. Conkov, Commanding 
United States Bark Restless: 

Sir : — I take great pleasure in acknowledging 
the receipt of your communications referring to the 
capture of the steamers Scotia and Anglia. 

Both these vessels I sent to New York for ad- 
judication. The engineers of the Scotia were paid for 
bringing the steamer to this port ; but they subse- 
quently refused to do duty in taking her to New York. 

I must also acknowledge your communication of 

, giving a list of vessels taken and destroyed by 

the Restless, under your command; a list which suffi- 



344 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

ciently evidences the activity and energy ever exhibited 
by you. 

Your letter of the 5th inst., enclosing the report 
of Acting Master's Mate J. J. Russell, detailing the 
circumstances of the capture of the postman and the 
mail-bags, has been duly received. This officer cer- 
tainly deserves great credit for the manner in which 
he carried out your orders ; and I have shown my 
appreciation of his zeal by appointing him an acting 
ensign from the 5th of November. The two contra- 
bands who went with him are also, I think, deserv- 
ing of an advanced rate. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. nth, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — The Department is aware that in the ex- 
pedition of the St. John's, in October last, the army 
and navy forces combined captured the rebel steamer 
Governor Milton. Like the Darlington and Planter, 
she uses wood for fuel, and is therefore of very little 
use to the navy. 

General Brannan desired to employ her for the 
army ; and asked that I would have her carefully 
appraised. 

This was done by a board of efficient officers, 
and I enclose this report, in which she was valued 
at two thousand dollars. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 345 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. nth, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report to the Depart- 
ment the capture of the postman, with two mail-bags, 
on the route between Charleston and the Santee, 
through the energy and enterprise of Acting Volun- 
teer Lieutenant E. Conroy, of the United States barque 
Restless. 

Lieutenant Conroy having received information as 
to the time when the carrier of the mails would pass, 
and considering that valuable documents might be in- 
tercepted, sent Acting Master's Mate Jas. J. Russell, 
with two contrabands, on shore in a small boat. 

Enclosed is a copy of the report of that officer 
of the circumstances of the capture, in which he seems 
to have displayed discretion as well as determination; 
and being well recommended in other respects, I have 
made him an acting ensign, subject to the approval 
of the Department. 

The mail-bags contained a number of letters and 
a few papers ; of the former, few were of any interest, 
and none conveyed information of particular value to us. 

I have enclosed them all to the Department in 
two separate envelopes ; one containing the only letters 
which I consider of interest. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



346 OFJ'ICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 12th, 1S62. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have to report another of my steamers 
broken down, the Wamsutta. I send her to New 
York. 

Her engine is so much in need of repair which 
can not be made here, that she must be towed North ; 
and as the Connecticut has just arrived from the 
Gulf, I have directed Lieutenant Commander Haxton 
to take her in tow. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F, Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 12th, 1S62. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have received a report from Commander 
M. Woodhull, senior officer in St. John's, in which, 
after saying that everything was quiet, he refers to 
numerous salt works along the coast, south of the St. 
John's, which could be destroyed by light-draft vessels, 

I am desirous to have the wishes of the Depart- 
ment on this subject before taking action. 

I may add that large quantities of excellent tim- 
ber, suitable for ships' decks, were discovered in Nas- 
sau river by Lieutenant Snell, of the Hale, who also 
captured a small pilot schooner in the same locality. 
By chartering empty coal vessels much of this timber 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 347 

could be removed ; it will, however, have to be done 
by the aid of gunboats, but by the breaking down of 
the Hale, Patroon, Wamsutta, and Western World, I 
am much crippled for vessels of light draft. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabasli, 
Port Roj-al Harbor, S. C, Nov. 13th, 1862. 

Lieutenant A. T. Snell, United States Ship 
E. B. Hale: 

Sir: — You will proceed to Philadelphia with the 
steamer E. B. Hale, under your command, and report 
to Commodore Pendergrast, commandant of the naval 
station, and through him to the Honorable Secretary 
of the Navy. 

You will prepare such statements of the most 
pressing repairs and wants required for the Hale, as 
may facilitate the examination of the surveying offi- 
cers, and expedite her refitment. 

I avail myself of this occasion to express my 
warm commendation of your whole conduct on this 
station, whether while serving on the Pawnee, in her 
varied and effective service, or as the commander of 
the Hale, in important operations on the coast of 
Florida, ending, as they did, by entering the Nassau 
Inlet and capturing the rebel schooner Wave within 
a few days. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



348 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 13th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — The steamer E. B. Hale must be sent 
North to be coppered. She has been a most useful 
vessel on this station, and as she requires little else, I 
would thank the Department to have her sent back in 
the least possible time, for she is much wanted. I 
am only induced to send her from an apprehension 
that if she grounded, we might lose her, owing to the 
condition of her bottom, together with the danger of 
sending her North at a later season. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F, Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 14th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform the Depart- 
ment that the United States ship E. B. Hale, on the 4th 
inst., in the Nassau river, captured the schooner Wave, 
loaded with turpentine and cotton. No one was found 
on board. No papers. 

I have transhipped her cargo (the Wave being too 
small to send North), to the schooner Governor Burton, 
bound to Philadelphia. 

May I request the Department to direct the navy 
agent at Philadelphia to pay the freight on the same, in 
accordance with the terms of the enclosed bill of lading. 

Enclosed is a muster roll of the officers and crew 

of the E. B. Hale. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 349 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 14th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — On my return from the North I found a 
dispatch from the Department, of the 9th of October, 
relating to two Creole boys, who were reported to 
have been kidnapped off the Bahamas, in April, 1861, 
by the captain of an American barque called the 

Hebe. Their names were John Stirrup and 

Edwards ; the former nineteen or twenty years of age. 

The cases alluded to above had come to my 
knowledge before. The two boys were kidnapped from 
Nassau by a rebel merchant captain, who had inveigled 
two other blacks on board of his vessel, but who jumped 
overboard and swam to the shore. The two referred 
to were sold as slaves, at Fernandina ; and when that 
place was captured by our forces, they were found on 
board the rebel steamer Darlington, employed in the 
military service of the rebel government. Of course 
they were free from that hour ; and, with the rest of 
the colored crew, entered into the service of the United 
States, under wages, and served in the Darlington until 
that vessel was transferred to the army, when they were 
discharged. 

At present I cannot say where the parties referred 
to are, but my impression is that they are in the 
employ of Brigadier -General Saxton, the military gov- 
ernor of South Carolina. 

I may add, in closing, that they have never ex- 
pressed any desire to be sent to Nassau or to the 
North. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



350 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 15th, 1862. 

Captain S. W. Godon, United States Ship 
Powhatan : 

Sir : — You will please proceed, when ready, with 
the Powhatan, under your command, off Charleston, 
and resume the direction of the blockade of that im- 
portant point, as senior officer. 

Your full experience of this duty leaves me no 
special instructions to give. It is left to your judg- 
ment to have two vessels under way, outside of your 
line, or no.t I would recommend in the former case 
some particular understanding as to the signals to be 
made by such vessels to those inside. 

Wishing you good weather, I am respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 15th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

Sir : — I have the honor to report the following 
positions of the blockading vessels of this squadron : 

At Georgetown, steamer Sebago. 

Off Bull's Bay, United States barque Restless. 

Off Charleston, steamers Powhatan, Housatonic, 
Mercedita, South Carolina, Quaker City, Keystone State, 
Bienville, Flag, Marblehead, Flambeau, Ottawa, Seneca, 
Memphis, and schooners G. W. Blunt and Para. 

In Stono river. United States steamer Isaac Smith. 

In North Edisto, United States steamer Unadilla. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 35 I 

In St. Helena Sound, United States steamer Nor- 
wich, and United States ship Shepherd Knapp. 

In Wassaw Sound, United States steamer Cone- 
maugh. 

In Ossebaw Sound, steamers Wissahickon, Dawn, 
and mortar schooner C. P. Williams. 

In St. Catherine's, Sapelo, and St. Simon's, steamers 
Paul Jones, Potomska, Madgie, and United States 
barque Braziliera. 

In St. Andrew's, United States barque Midnight. 

At Fernandina, United States ship Mohawk. 

In St. John's river, steamers Cimerone and Uncas. 

In Port Royal (most of which are undergoing re- 
pairs or taking in supplies), Wabash, Canandaigua, Van- 
dalia, Water Witch, Vermont, Hale, Fernandina, Hope, 
Petit, Norfolk packet (mortar schooner), and Rescue. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F, Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 17th, 1862. 

Commander M. B. Woolsey, United States Ship 
Vandalia: 

Sir: — You will proceed with the Vandalia, under 
your command, when ready for sea, and cruise on the 
coast, on the outside blockade, in reference to which 
you have the official instructions, and give general 
protection to our commerce. 

You are advised that I have a further object in 
sending out the Vandalia: that she may be a school 
of practice for the graduating class of midshipmen, 
now promoted in this squadron, and others who have 



352 OFFICIA L DISPA TCHES OF 

had very limited opportunities of seeing sea service. 
You will aid in this object all in your power, return- 
ing to this port in two weeks; say ist of December. 
You may call off the port within signal distance, 
if it becomes convenient to do so. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. i8th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to supply an omission in 
my dispatch to the Department of the 14th inst., re- 
ferring to the two negroes, Edwards and Stirrup. 

My attention was called in June last by Judge 
Burritt, of Florida, to the kidnapper Clark, the rebel 
merchant captain, and I accordingly addressed the fol- 
lowing letter to Lieutenant Commanding A. G. Clary, 
who, with the Dawn, was stationed at Fernandina: 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 19th, 1862. 
Sir: — The enclosed interesting memorandum is from Judge 
Burritt, of Jacksonville, Florida. 

You will perceive the man Clark is represented to be in 
Fernandina. If this should be so, I wish this man arrested and 
placed in security until further orders, but not in irons. 

You will, of course, address yourself to the military author- 
ity on shore to effect this, and say to Colonel Rich that since 
getting the within information I have not had time to procure 
from General Hunter the order in due form, but I will be 
responsible, if need be, for any act of his in the premises. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Flag Officer. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 353 

To which I receivetl the following reply: 

United States Gunboat Dawn, 

Fernandina, Fla., June 27th, 1S62. 

Sir : — I am in receipt of your communication of the 
19th inst., enclosing a statement in reference to the free negro, 
John Stirrup, and his kidnapper, Fred. Clark, and your orders 
thereupon. 

I have only to state in reply that this man Clark is not 
in Fernandina, nor has he resided here since its occupation by 
the Federal troops ; so far as we can ascertain, he is with the 
rebels on the main, — one of the guerrilla party, beyond our 
reach at present. 

Very respectfully, 

A. G. Clary, 
Lieutenant Commanding, U. S. Navy. 

Enclosed is also a copy of the memorandum of 
Judge Burritt. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. i8th, 1862. 

United States Prize Commissioners, 
New York : 

Gentlemen : — I have the honor to report the 
capture of the British steam propeller Ouachita, on the 
14th of October, by the United States steamer Mem- 
phis, on her way to join this squadron. The circum- 
stances attending the capture are as follows: — 

On the morning of the 14th of October, at day- 
light, latitude 30° 3' north, and longitude yy° 26' west, 
a steamer was discovered standing to the westward. 
The Memphis was headed for her immediately ; where- 
upon the stranger altered her course, and stood off 
23 



354 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

to the eastward. Chase was made, all sail being put 
upon the Memphis. The steamer altered her course 
a point or two several times, evidently trying her most 
favorable sailing point ; finally she settled on dead 
before the wind, and hoisted a large square - sail yard, 
setting the sail. From 6.30 a. m. until 3.30 p. m., 
the chase continued ; during this period the Memphis 
passed a large box or bale floating in the wake of 
the steamer. Finding that she was probably in range 
of the rifled gun, a shot was fired off her port side ; 
to this no attention was paid. In the course of a 
few minutes another was fired on her starboard hand, 
and another interval passed, somewhat shorter than the 
first, when she hove to, and hoisted an English ensign. 

When boarded, the only papers found on board" 
were a clearance, certificate of registry, muster-roll, and 
log-book; and in addition, in the captain's desk, two 
letters and a memorandum ; all of which will be de- 
livered to you by Acting Master Grit, who has charge 
of the prize. 

By the above papers her cargo is said to have 
consisted of two hundred and forty-two cases of mer- 
chandise ; but none were found on board. One of 
the crew, Edward Young, stated to Acting Lieutenant 
Watmough and others, that, " At nine a. m. of the day 
we were caught, we got orders to throw overboard 
the cargo ; and we were at work until two p. m. 
throwing it overboard. The cargo consisted mainly of 
cases from five to six feet long, fitted with rope beckets, 
and weighing from three to four hundred-weight," Also, 
that "after you had fired the first shot we had put 
rosin or varnish into the furnaces, which caused the 
boilers to leak. We were kept supplied with liquor, and 
were so drunk we hardly knew what we were doing." 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 355 

The boarding officer found most of the crew very 
drunk. 

The log shows the general course to have been 
westward, — off a course for her pretended port of des- 
tination, Havana. 

The prize being out of coal, and her boilers 
strained, the Memphis took her in tow and brought 
her to Port Royal. Her machinery has been repaired, 
and I now send her to New York for adjudication. 

The mate, Hiram Parrish, the carpenter, George 
Delalze, the steward, David Whetham, and the cook, 
Thomas Burgess, of the prize, go home in her. The 
master and the rest of the crew were sent on the 
1 2th inst. to New York, in the Wamsutta. The master 
was not retained to go in the prize, as it would not 
have been safe to permit him to do so unless placed 
in irons. 

Acting Master's Mate John M. Moore, of the Mem- 
phis, goes home in the Ouachita, and will give all 
necessary evidence in reference to her capture. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 20th, 1S62. 

Lieutenant Commander A. R. Hughes, United States 
Ship Mohawk : 

Sir : — I am in receipt of your communication 
of the nth inst., giving some details of an expedi- 
tion to St. Mary's, though I could not quite make 
out from your dispatch the object of it. 

In reference to the destruction of the saw-mill, 



356 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

as mentioned by you, it is my desire to avoid de- 
stroying private property, unless used for pickets or 
guard stations, and other military purposes. Of course, 
if fired upon from any place, it is your duty, if pos- 
sible, to destroy it. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 20th, 1S62. 

Commander M. Woodhull, United States Ship 
Cimerone, St. John's : 

Sir: — I take pleasure in acknowledging your sev- 
eral communications of November 3d, 7th, November 
not dated, and November 14th, reporting the condition 
of things in St. John's river, the expedition to Was- 
saw river by the Hale, and referring to the salt works 
south of St. John's, etc., and commend your zeal and 
energy. 

I have called the attention of the Department, in 
consequence of your letters, to the matter of destruc- 
tion of salt works, and await instructions. 

By the last mail the Department has informed 
me that the Cimerone is to be permanently attached 
to this squadron. As soon as I can relieve you, the 
Cimerone will return to Port Royal for such repairs 
as our means will enable us to make. 

The Water Witch has orders to supj^ly )-ou with 
all the provisions she can spare. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. ¥. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 



i$7 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 20th, 1862. 

Commander Chas. Steedman, United States Ship 
Paul Jones, St. Simon's : 

Sir: — I take great pleasure in acknowledging your 
report of the movements of gunboats placed under 
your command in the Pocotaligo expedition. 

I forwarded it to the Department immediately, 
with a dispatch. 

. I also take pleasure in enclosing an extract from 
Brigadier- General Brannan's report, which he forwarded 
to me previous to its publication, a copy of his letter, 
and my reply. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, 5. C, Nov. 25th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

SiK : — I have the honor to report to the Depart- 
ment that on the night of the 5th inst. a steamer 
attempted to run the blockade of Charleston by Maffitt's 
channel. She was first discovered by the Blunt, about 
ten minutes after ten, and was fired upon by that ves- 
sel, whose commanding officer at the same time gave 
the usual signal to the fleet. The Flag, hearing the 
guns and seeing the signal, stood in the direction in- 
dicated, and got sight of the steamer, and fired one 
shot at her, when she appeared to run seaward ; but 



358 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

a dense fog just at moment unfortunately shut her out 
from view. The Seneca, aroused by the previous signal, 
now also perceived the steamer and fired her rifled gun, 
when she turned short round and steered to the east- 
ward, immediately after which, owing to the fog, she 
was lost sight of 

On the night of the 6th inst. a steamer again at- 
tempted to run the blockade by the same entrance, 
and was again discovered by the Blunt, which vessel 
she approached within three hundred yards, when a 
shell from the Blunt struck her, exploding on board. 
The steamer immediately turned to the northward and 
westward, and apparently ran aground on the shoal off 
Dewes Inlet, where, however, she remained for only a few 
minutes, in which time Acting Master Beers, the com- 
manding officer of the Blunt, fired three more shells at 
her, sending also a boat to board her; but she suc- 
ceeded in getting off, and steering seaward, disap- 
peared in the darkness. The report of Acting Master 
Beers described her as a long, low side - wheel steamer, 
about 700 tons, without spars. 

There is reason to believe that the steamer last 
spoken of was the same that attempted to enter the 
previous night, on both of which occasions she was 
foiled, and the impression is that she has returned to 
Nassau, disabled. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU FONT. 359 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 28th, 1S62. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to call the attention of 
the Department to the enclosed copy of a letter ad- 
dressed to Commander Corbin, of this ship. 

The case which elicited Commander Corbin's letter 
to the Secretary of the Navy was that of a person 
who messed in the steerage of the Wabash, and not in 
the wardroom. 

A commanding officer is frequently obliged to take 
on board his ship not only prisoners and passengers 
from captured vessels, but prisoners taken in naval ex- 
peditions on shore, rebel refugees seeking shelter from 
the enemy, and, under certain exigencies of the service, 
officers of the army. 

In all these cases he is embarrassed in assigning 
such parties to the officers' messes, inasmuch as the 
gentlemen composing these messes .supply their tables 
from their own private purses. 

I would tlierefore respectfully submit that the 
order of the Department be extended so as to pro- 
vide that in all cases where persons not in the navy 
are, from the necessities of the service, received on board 
of ships -of- war, and assigned by the commanding offi- 
cers to any of the officers' messes, such mess be al- 
lowed for the subsistence of each person so assigned, 
as is the amount allowed for Atlantic coast pilots. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



360 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 21st, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have to inform the Department that on 
the VandaHa being released from guarding the quar- 
antine station in this harbor, I had her prepared for 
sea, and have sent her on an outside blockading 
cruise between this coast and the Gulf Stream. 

I placed on board of her all the graduates of the 
Academy in the squadron that I could spare for the 
moment, as they have seen so little sea service; they 
having, to their credit, expressed the most earnest de- 
sire to be permitted to avail themselves of such means 
of practical instruction. 

I have directed Commander Woolsey to keep ma- 
noeuvring the ship, and to make the best use of the 
brief period allotted to carry out this object. I expect 
her back on December 1st. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



(Confidential.) 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 23d, 1862. 

Commander Reed Werden, United States Ship 
Conemaugh : 

Sir : — I have seen to-day the two contrabands 
brought up by the Darlington. I learn the one who 
knows about the rebel ram or iron- clad Fingal you 
put on board the Water Witch, which steamer I hope 
will be here in a day or two ; but I avail myself of 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 36 1 

this opportunity to say that I consider the Conemaugh, 
formidable as she is, no match for an iron-clad vessel 
roofed over. 

If therefore she should attempt to come down to 
Wassaw, by Wilmington river, etc., to attack you, I 
would recommend your getting to sea, where, if she 
followed you, though still at great disadvantage, you 
could have room to manage your vessel and to avail 
yourself of her speed. 

I recommend therefore that you have the Wassaw 
bar carefully buoyed, and I send Acting Master Mattair 
(pilot) to assist you in this matter. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 25th, 1862. 

J. Lenthal, Chief Bureau of Construction and Repair, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have received your communication of the 
13th inst., in reference to the Cimerone ; and here- 
with enclose a survey held on that steamer, on the 
13th of September, just after her arrival here, on her 
way to join Acting Rear Admiral Wilkes' squadron. 

The vessel not being in a condition to carry out 
her original orders, and having use for her powerful 
armament in the St. John's river, I sent her there, 
after some repairs which were absolutely necessary to 
enable her even to perform inside blockade duty, where 
she has since remained. 

You will perceive, by the report of the board, 
that her machinery was in good running order, though 



362 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

its efficiency might be affected by the working and 
straining of the parts of the vessel to which it was 
attached. 

On the 1 6th of October, during my absence North, 
Commander Woodhull, in a dispatch to Captain Godon,. 
senior officer, wrote as follows : 

" Since she has been in this locality she has very 
much increased her disability; the heavy firing and 
long continued use of her guns have materially shaken 
her, and now she shows her weakness much more 
than ever before. 

" The engine frame has considerably more spread, 
and the same may be said of her hull. This fact 
is no longer a surmise, but its actuality is evident by 
the loosening of all her carlins and ledges amidships." 

On the 3d inst., in a communication to me, he 
says, " The engines of the Cimerone are daily becom- 
ing less trustworthy, and the critical condition of the 
frame is more manifest. I really think she should 
have the proper repairs made without further delay. 
Also, the heavy and long continued firing of guns, 
in our late operations at St. John's Bluff, has increased 
hor inherent weakness of hull. She requires and ought 
to be strengthened thoroughly, and her rudder enlarged 
and altered, to make her an efficient vessel." 

In accordance with your request I will, as soon 
as the Cimerone returns to Port Royal, forward a 
special report from the chief engineer in regard to 
the condition of her machinery. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 363 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 26th, 1862. 

Brigadier - General R. Saxton, 

Beaufort, South Carolina : 

General : — I beg to call your attention to the 
colonies in the Department of the South. 

There are at present sixty contrabands on North 
Island, near Georgetown. 

There are nearly one hundred colonists on an 
island in the St. John's river, under the protection of 
our gunboats, but of this number there are a good 
many white persons, refugees. Commander Woodhull, 
of the Cimerone, in his last communication, writes as 
follows : — 

" The colony at Pilot Town now contains nearly 
one hundred men, women, and children, white and 
black, and the number is gradually on the increase. 
Every fresh arrival brings the information that desertions 
are of daily occurrence among the Florida troops. 

" As you are aware, there are no means of sup- 
port for the people on the island save what is obtained 
from the vessels in the river, and I am consequently 
compelled to furnish food to them." 

These colonists are all much in want of food and 
clothing, the latter of which it is entirely out of my 
power to supply. I have been doing the former out 
of my limited means from the gunboats. These poor 
people cannot be allowed to starve. I should be glad 
to hear from you in reference to this matter at your 
earliest convenience. 

I am, General, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



364 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 28th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

Sir : — I have the honor to call the attention of 
the Department to the case of Samuel Burrows. 

He was taken on board the prize steamer Scotia, 
and acknowledges that he is a Charleston pilot. I 
send him to New York in the Courier. 

He has given the enclosed parole of honor, and 
I am free to say that he has favorably impressed me. 

I have written to Rear Admiral Paulding to detain 
him, as well as the persons referred to in my dis- 
patch of this date, taken on board the prize schooner 
Annie Dees, until further orders from the Department. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Nov. 28th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

Sir : — I have the honor to report the capture of 
the rebel schooner Annie Dees, by the United States 
gunboat Seneca, on the evening of the 7th inst., at- 
tempting to run the blockade out of Charleston. 

No papers were found on board. The master, 
Thomas Bennett, acknowledges that he threw them 
overboard in obedience to orders from the owners in 
Charleston. 

The schooner, being considered unseaworthy, was 
sent to this port. I ordered a survey upon her, and 
herewith enclose the report, wherein the schooner is 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 365 

declared unfit to proceed North, and her value ap- 
praised at $500. Her cargo, consisting of one hundred 
and twenty - five barrels of turpentine and sixty -eight 
barrels of rosin, has been transhipped to the United 
States store-ship Courier, which sails to-morrow for 
New York. 

The master and crew go in the Courier, as also 
three persons, viz., John M. Murrey, James Egal (or 
Egan), and Arthur Erving (or Ervin), calling themselves 
passengers. 

The three persons last named, as also one of tile 
crew, viz., William Lamberton, who were sent to this 
port in the Housatonic, are suspected, from their con- 
versation when on board of that vessel, of being 
Charleston pilots. Pencil sketches of the coast in the 
neighborhood of Lawford's channel were found in 
pocket-books belonging to some of these men. 

I recommend, for reasons previously stated, that 
these men be closely scrutinized, and if necessary 
confined. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. ist, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commanding W. D. Whiting, United States 
Ship Ottawa : 

Sir: — You will please proceed with the Ottawa, 
under your command, to Stono, and take charge of 
those waters. 

You will make such reconnoissance as will enable 
you to ascertain the position of the rebel batteries. 



366 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

without however exposing your vessels to unnecessary 
risk. I desire particularly to know whether any guns 
have been put in position below Fort Pemberton. 

Acting Lieutenant Conover, of the Isaac Smith, 
who has been in Stono for some time, will be able 
to give you valuable information. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C, Dec. ist, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report the following 
positions of the blockading vessels of this squadron : — 

At Georgetown, United States steamer Sebago. 

Off Bull's Bay, United States barque Restless. 

Off Charleston, United States steamers Powhatan, 
Canandaigua, Mercedita, South Carolina, Quaker City, 
Keystone State, Bienville, Norwich, Marblehead, Huron, 
Flambeau, Memphis, and Stettin, and schooners G. W. 
Blunt and Para. 

Stono Inlet, United States gunboats Ottawa, Seneca, 
and Isaac Smith. 

North Edisto, United States gunboat Unadilla. 

St. Helena Sound, United States barque Fernandina. 

Wassaw Inlet, United States steamer Conemaugh. 

Ossebaw Sound, United States steamers Wissahickon 
and Dawn, and mortar schooner C. P. Williams. 

Guarding St. Catherine's, Sapelo, Doboy, and St. 
Simon's Sounds, United States steamers Paul Jones, Po- 
tomska, Madgie. United States barque Braziliera, and 
mortar schooner Norfolk Packet. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. l6y 

St. Andrew's Sound, United States barque Midnight. 

Fernandina, United States steamer Mohawk. 

St. John's river, United States steamers Cimerone 
and Uncas. 

In Port Royal, most of them undergoing repairs 
and taking in supplies, United States steamers Wabash, 
Vermont, Flag, Housatonic, E. B. Hale, and tugs Pettit 
and Rescue. 

The United States steamer Water Witch and United 
States schooner Hope are used as dispatch boats. 

The United States coast surveying steamer Bibb, 
which arrived here on the 27th day of November, is 
engaged in buoying the harbors. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 2d, 1862. 

Commander M. B. Woolsev, United States Ship 
Vandalia : 

Sir: — Having, with the Vandalia. under your com- 
mand, executed successfully my orders of the 17th of 
November, in cruising off the coast, I have to direct 
that you will repeat the services then rendered, re- 
ceiving on board such officers as I have ordered to 
report to you, who could not be spared for the first 
cruise. 

You will proceed at once off Charleston and re- 
ceive on board Lieutenant Higginson, from the Pow- 
hatan, and Acting Master Smith, from the Flambeau, 
whose orders have been delivered to you, returning 



368 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

these two gentlemen to their respective vessels before 
returning to this anchorage. 

You will remain two weeks, not longer, and com- 
municate with this port from outside, when you may 
deem fit. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 6th, 1862. 

Acting Volunteer Lieutenant E. Conkoy, late of United States 
Barque Restless : 

Sir : — In my several reports to the Honorable 
Secretary of the Navy, speaking of the services of the 
Restless, I have not failed to notice the zeal, intelli- 
gence, and spirit which you have ever manifested in 
the discharge of your duties as her commander, and 
as you are about to leave the squadron, I take plea- 
sure in expressing the same to yourself. 

You have doubtless been detached for the pur- 
pose of being given a higher command. I can not 
better convey my appreciation of your services as an 
officer, and of your bearing as a gentleman, than by 
saying that I shall be much pleased if you should be 
ordered again to this squadron. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

* Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 369 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C, Nov. 26th, 1862. 

Acting Master M. Digard, et als., United States 
Ship Restless : 

Gentlemen : — I have received your letter of the 
22d of November, a letter which has caused very 
much surprise. 

I should have thought, notwithstanding the limited 
period you have been in the navy, that you would 
have acquired ere this some knowledge of its organ- 
ization and discipline. 

If I were not satisfied that you have erred through 
ignorance, I should detach every one of you, and re- 
quest your dismissal from the service. What right have 
you to complain of the detachment of your com- 
mander if the Government thinks proper to order him 
elsewhere ? You were not granted your appointments 
to serve with any particular officer or ship. 

You further state that you cannot " fully appreciate 
another commander, no matter who he may be." I 
desire to give you timely and kindly caution on this 
point, for if I hear of any insubordination springing 
from the spirit of this remark, I shall not overlook it. 

What makes your letter the more extraordinary is 
that three out of the six signers have but recently 
joined the Restless, of whom Acting Ensigns Eason 
and Hicks and Acting Ensign Russell were promoted 
by me in this squadron. When I deem it necessary 
to send the Restless home I shall do so, but I again 
caution you, with no unkind feelings towards you, but 
as due to the public service, that if I hear of any 

24 



370 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

just cause of complaint from your new commander, 
none of you will be permitted to return in her, ' 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 

To Acting Master M. Digard, Acting Assistant Surgeon J. B. Calkins, 
Acting Ensigns H. Eason, C. N. Hicks, and J. J. Russell, and Act- 
ing Master's Mate J. W. Mackie, United States Ship Restless. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 8th, 1862. 

Acting Master M. Digard, et als., United States 
Ship Restless : 

Gentlemen : — I have received your joint letter of 
December ist, and am pleased to find that my under- 
standing of the scope and import of your previous 
communication was not in accordance with your own 
meaning and intentions. 

So far as the commendation of your late com- 
mander went, and your regret at his leaving the Rest- 
less, I deem them creditable to you and him, and 
your explanations on the other points I am happy to 
say are entirely satisfactory. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. T^yi 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 8th, 1862. 

Assistant Acting Surgeon J. B. Calkins, United States 
Ship Restless : 

Sir : — My official communication to the officers 
of the Restless, of this date, in reply to theirs of De- 
cember 1st, in which your name is included, accepts 
as full and satisfactory their explanation of the matter 
in question. 

I have therefore only to acknowledge the receipt 
of yours of ist of December, and express my com- 
mendation of the excellent spirit which prompted it. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. loth, 1862. 

J. Lenthal, Chief Bureau of Construction and Repair : 

Sir : — The ferry - boat John Adams arrived here 
yesterday in safety, and I have given to the captain, 
H. Cumminskey, receipts in duplicate in the following 
form : — 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. nth, 1862. 

I hereby state that the ferry-boat John Adams has arrived 
safely at Port Royal, and been received by me for the public 
service. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 

By the terms of the Bureau's instructions to Com- 
modore Montgomery, a copy of which he sent me, the 



372 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

vessel was to be delivered in complete order in every 
respect at Port Royal, at the expense and risk of the 
owners. 

The captain claimed that she was purchased as 
she stood for ;^36,ooo, and presented bills to the amount 
of ^2,ioo for extras or equipments necessary to make 
the voyage to Port Royal. 

I at first refused to have anything to do with 
these charges, but finally concluded to keep such fix- 
tures and other articles as contributed to the efficiency 
of the vessel, nearly all of which would have to be 
procured by us. 

These amounted to ;^ 1,299.26, and I have sent 
copies of the bills in the enclosed communication to 
Commodore Montgomery. 

It is for the Bureau to decide upon their payment. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. loth, 1862. 

Rear Admiral W. B. Shubrick, Chairman 
Light-House Board : 

Sir: — I desire to call the attention of the Light- 
House Board to our wants on this coast. 

Holding so large a portion of it by inside block- 
ade, the sounds, inlets, and rivers where they exist, 
require constant intercommunication with the squadron 
depot at Port Royal. 

As the Bureau is aware, the bars are shallow, the 
approaches difficult and dangerous. With the supply 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 373 

of buoys sent out last winter, we did the best we 
could, through the assistance of Mr. Boutelle, assistant 
in the Coast Survey, in placing them where most 
wanted, but many have disappeared and require re- 
newing, and a greater number are necessary. 

I respectfully suggest that a supply should be sent 
out, with an organized buoy tender. 

I can call upon Mr. Boutelle, who is ever ready 
to assist us, to ascertain the points to be buoyed, and 
see to the proper placing of the buoys, but I can- 
not expect that he should perform the operation of 
mooring them himself, nor is his vessel suitable for the 
purpose. 

I feel it my duty to urge, respectfully, that the 
board should extend its supervision again to the aids 
to navigation on this coast, so far as the circumstances 
of the case will admit. 

I report in another communication that the crew 
of the light-vessel is in a state of mutiny. The vessel 
is also short of oil. I need hardly say to the board 
that I give all the time and attention I can to these 
matters, but they are not in a satisfactory state, 
I am, Admiral, respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont. 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. loth, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — Enclosed is a survey on the United States 
ship Bienville, in consequence of which I am reluctantly 
obliged to send her North, there being no means of 
repairing her here. 



374 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

May I ask the Department to give instructions to 
have the Bienville put in order as soon as possible, 
and send her back to this squadron. 
She goes to New York. 

She is the most important of all my ships for 
blockading duty. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. nth, 1862. 

Commander M. Woodhull, United States Ship 
Cimerone, St. John's : 

Sir : — Your several interesting communications of 
December ist, 3d, and 9th have been received to-day by 
the Water Witch. 

Your course in reference to the destruction of 
boats on the St. John's, under the present circumstances, 
is approved ; they were doubtless used by the guer- 
rillas in carrying on their predatory warfare, and, as 
such, it was right and proper to destroy them. 

I have read carefully your dispatch of the 3d 
inst., referring to the treacherous conduct of a Mr. 
Benedict, the owner of the Magnolia Springs. If at the 
time of the occurrence Acting Master Watson had 
destroyed the property of this man, there would have 
been no ground of complaint, as his base conduct 
merited punishment ; but as there is a possibility that 
he did not intentionally betray those who were trying 
to do him a kindness, I would not at the present time 
take any further steps in the destruction of his prop- 
erty. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 375 

I am dispatching a coal vessel to Fernandina, 
from which you can supply the Cimerone and the 
Uncas when necessary, , 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. nth, 1862. 

Lieutenant Commander J. S. Davis, United States Ship 
Wissahickon : 

Sir: — The Water Witch arrived to-day, bringing 
Charles Cook and Michael Green. The former I shall 
probably employ as a pilot ; the latter will be sent 
North. 

I have considered the report of your engineer, 
and as soon as possible will relieve you at Ossebaw, 
so that the necessary repairs can be made to your 
vessel. 

I take this occasion to acknowledge your letters 
of the 19th and 20th of November, referring to an en- 
gagement with the battery at Genesis Point, in which 
the Wissahickon accidentally received a shot, tempor- 
arily disabling her. I beg leave to commend your 
whole course in the matter, particularly in concealing 
so effectually from the enemy your injuries. Their 
official accounts make no mention of them. 

I am glad to learn that you have buoyed the 
channel. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



3/6 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 13th, 1862. 

J. Lenthal, Chief Bureau of Construction and Repair, 
Washington : 

Sir : — I have the pleasure to forward to the Bu- 
reau the survey for a coal depot at Bay Point, in 
this harbor, beautifully executed by Mr. C. V, Boutelle, 
Assistant in the Coast Survey, on this station ; also, 
to enclose a copy of his report on the same. 

In reference to this report I have a suggestion to 
make, that the Bureau, in making contracts for the 
wharf, etc., will give as little lien as possible on the 
resources of the squadron to assist in the construction 
thereof, as all our means and appliances are stretched 
to their utmost capacity for our regular work. 

The screw piles, though costing more at first, will 
save the procuring and transportation of the longer 
wooden ones, and soon pay for the excess in other 
ways. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 15th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — I have the honor to inform the Department 
of the arrival here, on the nth inst., of the United States 
gunboat Commodore McDonough, Lieutenant Command- 
ing George Bacon. 

She is a most valuable acquisition to this squad- 
ron. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 377 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 16, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report the following 
positions of the blockading vessels of this squadron : — 

At Georgetown, United States ship Sebago. 

Off Bull's Bay, United States barque Restless. 

Off Charleston, United States steamers Powhatan, 
Canandaigua, Housatonic, Flag, Flambeau, Quaker City, 
Keystone State, Marblehead, Huron, Memphis, Stettin, 
and schooners G. W. Blunt and Para. 

Stono Inlet, United States steamers Ottawa, Seneca, 
and Isaac Smith. 

North Edisto, United States ship South Carolina. 

St. Helena, United States barque Fernandina. 

Wassaw Sound, United States ship Conemaugh. 

Ossebaw, United States steamers Wissahickon, Dawn, 
and schooner C. P. Williams. 

Guarding St. Catherine's, Sapelo, Doboy, and St, 
Simon's Sounds, United States steamers Paul Jones, Po- 
tomska, Madgie, barque Braziliera, and schooner Nor- 
folk Packet. 

St. Andrew's, United States barque Midnight. 

Fernandina, United States ship Mohawk. 

St. John's River, United States steamers Cimerone 
and Uncas. 

In Port Royal, most of them undergoing repairs 
and taking in supplies. United States ship Wabash, 
United States ship Vermont, United States steamers 
Mercedita, Norwich, Unadilla, Commodore McDonough, 
and tugs Dandelion, Daffodil, Pettit, and Rescue. 



378 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

The Water Witch and Hope are used as dispatch 
boats. The Vandalia is out on the outside blockade. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. i6th, 1862. 

Acting Master W. R. Brown, United States Barque 
Restless : 

Sir : — I have received your interesting report of 
an expedition with the boats of the Restless, under 
your command, undertaken to destroy certain salt 
works of the rebels back of Harbor creek. 

I congratulate you on your success, and desire to 
express my commendation of yourself, and, through you, 
of the officers and men who took part in the affair. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 22d, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have to report the arrival yesterday of 
the barque Kingfisher, Acting Master Commanding 
Dutch. 

I had this morning to sign large requisitions from 
her for stores in the various departments, canvas, rig- 
ging, etc., and although she left Boston this month, 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 379 

the paymaster sent in requisitions for woolen clothing, 
including pea jackets, for the crew. 

I think it is to be regretted that a vessel direct 
from the navy yard should have to be supplied im- 
mediately from our resources here, which resources 
must be necessarily limited. Some of her requirements 
we are unable to supply in any degree. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 29th, 1862. 

Commander M. B. Woolsey, United States Ship 
Vandalia : 

Sir : — I have the pleasure to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of your very interesting report of the 22d inst., 
of the cruise of the Vandalia, under your command, 
under my orders of the 17th of November and the 2d 
of December. The object having been, while carrying 
on an outside line of blockade on the coast, to give 
at the same time the benefit of practical experience to 
the young officers of this squadron who have recently 
graduated from the Naval Academy, I desire to say 
that you have performed this interesting duty to my 
entire satisfaction. 

The character of this coast at this inclement sea- 
son, unusually boisterous while you were out, involving 
the care of a sailing-ship on a lee shore, in shoal 
water, both under way and at anchor, circumstances 
which you availed yourself of with skill and boldness, 
will have imparted experience to these gentlemen of 
the utmost value. 



380 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

The chart showing the tracks of the Vandalia 
during this cruise, executed by yourself with so much 
skill as as a draftsman, has also been received. I pur- 
pose sending it with your report to the Navy Depart- 
ment, accompanied by a request to the Honorable Secre- 
tary that they may be forwarded to the Naval Academy, 
where both will doubtless be received with interest. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 29th, 1862. 

Commander M. B. Woolsey, United States Ship 
Vandalia : 

Sir: — As you are about proceeding North in the 
Vandalia, it is due to you to say that since you have 
been attached to this squadron, your earnest zeal in 
the execution of your duty has given me great satis- 
faction. 

While commanding the Ellen during the operations 
in the Stono river, where that vessel rendered import- 
ant services against the rebel batteries and forces, you 
received in Commander Drayton's dispatches, who was 
the senior officer present, warm commendation. 

I should be much pleased to see you, in command 
of a steamer, return to this station. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 38 I 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Dec. 29th, 1862. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to forward by Lieutenant 
Commanding Woolsey, of the Vandalia, his report of 
the cruises of the Vandalia off this coast, from Novem- 
ber 27th to December 20th, together with a chart of 
the track of the ship, executed by himself, with great 
skill as a draughtsman. 

I have before reported the double object of this 
cruise ; one of them was to give nautical experience 
to the young officers of this squadron, whom the ne- 
cessities of the war have suddenly advanced to re- 
sponsible positions, in some cases in advance of their 
regular graduation at the Naval Academy. 

I am happy to say that this has been very suc- 
cessful, and among its most agreeable incidents has 
been the thorough appreciation by these young officers 
themselves of the opportunity thus afforded them of 
gaining professional experience. 

It has occurred to me, if the Department ap- 
proved of it, that the map and report of the cruise 
would be of some interest to the young men at the 
Naval Academy, and would be gladly received by 

Commodore Blake. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



3 82 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. ist, 1S63. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

Sir : — I have the honor to report the following 
positions on blockade of the vessels of this squadron : 

At Georgetown, United States steamer Sebago. 

Off Bull's Bay, United States barque Restless. 

Off Charleston, Powhatan, Canandaigua, Housa- 
tonic, Mercedita, Flag, Quaker City, Keystone State, 
Flambeau, Marblehead , Huron, Unadilla, Memphis, Stet- 
tin, schooners G. W. Blunt and Para. 

Stono, Ottawa, Commodore McDonough and Isaac 
Smith. 

North Edisto, South Carolina. 

St. Helena, barque Kingfisher. 

Wassaw, Conemaugh. 

Ossebaw, Seneca, Dawn, and C. P. Williams. 

Guarding St. Catherine's, Sapelo, Doboy, and St. 
Simon's, Paul Jones, Potomska, Madgie, barque Brazili- 
era, and schooner Norfolk Packet. 

St. Andrew's, barque Midnight. 

Fernandina, Mohawk. 

St. John's, Norwich and Uncas. 

Port Royal, part of them undergoing repairs and 
taking in provisions, Wabash, Vermont, Wissahickon, 
Fernandina, and tugs Dandelion, Daffodil, Pettit, and 
Rescue. 

The Water Witch and Hope are used as dispatch 
boats. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 383 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. ist, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — Acting Assistant Paymaster A. W. Kelsey, 
of the Wissahickon, has been invalided by medical sur- 
vey, and will be sent North by an early opportunity. 

If the Department could appoint in his place a 
young gentleman who came out as a private in the 
expeditionary corps from patriotic motives, and who has 
been my clerk for more than eight months, I should 
deem it a favor, and I am certain the appointment 
would be worthily bestowed. 

I can recommend him from my own close obser- 
vation in every way. His conduct and character are 
irreproachable, and he has proved himself faithful and 
intelligent in the discharge of his duties in this ship. 
I shall miss his services considerably, but I deem it 
my duty thus to recommend him. 

His name is James C. Vail ; he is from Morris- 
town, New Jersey, and i» in his twenty-first year. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. 8th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform the Depart- 
ment of an important capture made on the morning 
of the 4th inst., off Charleston. 

About two o'clock, on the morning of the 4th, the 
Quaker City discovered a small sloop coming out from 
Charleston, and succeeded in taking her. 



384 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

On boarding the vessel it proved to be the rebel 
sloop Mercury, bound for Nassau or Halifax, having 
on board Major Reid Saunders, son of George N, 
Saunders, formerly navy agent in New York, and now 
agent abroad for the Confederate Government. 

He was on board under the assumed name of 
George Sheaver. 

There was also taken a considerable mail, contain- 
ing, in a tin box, dispatches from the Confederate 
Government to its ministers abroad, which 1 send in 
the condition in which they were delivered to me. 
There were, besides, numerous letters addressed to va- 
rious parties, which are also herewith forwarded, and 
among them a communication addressed to the London 
Times for publication, to which I would call the at- 
tention of the Department. 

But, as most important of all, I enclose herewith 
(marked No. i), a letter in pencil from George N 
Saunders to his son Reid, referring to iron-clad vessels 
of the former, and directing Jiis son to impress upon 
Mr. Mason the absolute importance of hastening them 
forward, as the only thing that offers succor and relief; 
that Sinclair's and Bullock's steamer only preys upon 
commerce, but that more is wanted now, adding, " We 
want succor, or we must die." 

Another letter (marked No. 2), is also enclosed, be- 
ing the contract between Major Reid Saunders and 
the master of the Mercury. 

I deem these dispatches of too much importance 
to trust to the mail, and I have therefore directed my 
flag lieutenant, S. W. Preston, to take charge of them 
in person. 

Will the Department please see that he returns as 
soon as possible to this vessel ? 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 385 

Lieutenant Preston will explain in detail how the 
mail fell into our hands. Major Saunders, who had 
charge of it, thinks it was thrown overboard, and I 
submit that he should not be undeceived by the pub- 
lication in our papers that the official dispatches were 
taken, as well as the ordinary mail. He is at present 
on the Powhatan. The captain, Harris, is here, and I 
thought it best that he should be sent North in the 
Blackstone, one of our own vessels. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. 9th, 1863. 

Captain S. W. Godon, United States Ship Powhatan, 
Senior Officer, Charleston : 

Sir: — Your interesting report of the capture of 
the sloop Mercury, on the 4th inst., has been received. 
The Hope arrived here, with the prize in tow, near 
midnight of the 7th. 

After looking over the letter in pencil referred to 
particularly in your letter, and some of the other docu- 
ments, I determined to send the captured mails by 
a special bearer of dispatches, not being willing to trust 
them to the ordinary mail, and accordingly ordered my 
flag, lieutenant Preston, to proceed at once to Wash- 
ington in the Matanzas, which was to sail on the 8.th 
inst. 

The captain of the sloop, Harris, will be sent North 
in the United States store-ship Courier in a few daysy 
and the rebel agent. Major Saunders, in the Blackstone. 

Please to express to Commander Frailey my com- 
mendation of his vigilance in securing this important 
25 



386 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

prize. I approve of the precautions taken to prevent 
her capture being known in Charleston. I endeavored 
to keep the fact that the mail had been captured 
from the people on shore, so that Lieutenant Preston 
would be the first to inform the Department of it. 

The Blunt leaves in the morning for your station, 
and I shall send the Ottawa from Stono to replace 
the Canandaigua, as it is of great importance that the 
latter vessel should proceed at once off Ossebaw. 

Enclosed is an order to Captain Green. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. 9th, 1863, 

Commander R. Werden, United States Ship 
Conemaugh, Wassaw : 

Sir : — From a report received to-day, there is 
reason to believe that the Fingal is about attempting 
to reach the Ogeechee, either outside by Wassaw, or 
through the Romilly marshes, in order to aid the 
Nashville to escape. You will therefore be especially 
on your guard. 

I have ordered the Canandaigua from Charleston, 
to lie off the bar at Ossebaw, to intercept the Nash- 
ville in the event of her escaping. 

The Wissahickon leaves here on Tuesday for Osse- 
baw, to relieve the Seneca, which vessel will in turn 
relieve you. 

I send your mails by the Daffodil. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 387 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. loth, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — In forwarding the within communication 
(marked No. i), from Commander Reynolds, I can add 
my testimony to that of the medical officers that he 
is at this time in the efficient discharge of his duties 
on board the Vermont. I am also cognizant of the 
fact that his retirement in 1855 was solely for the 
cause stated in his letter to the Department, and I 
take pleasure in saying that he is an officer of su- 
perior intelligence and great worth. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. 13th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — In my communication of the 8th inst, I 
had the honor to report to the Department the cap- 
ture of the rebel sloop Mercury, with important dis- 
patches, which doubtless have already been delivered 
by Mr. Preston, my flag lieutenant. 

The mate of the sloop, A. Y. Harris, I send to 
Hampton Roads in the steamer Blackstone, with orders 
to Acting Master Berry to transfer him to the flag- 
ship of Rear Admiral Lee, there to await the dispo- 
sition of the Government. 

Harris was formerly in the service, but when cap- 
tured was a private in the Confederate army ; at all 
events is so named in the enclosed pass (marked No 
i), voluntarily placed in my hands. 



388 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I deemed it better to have him placed on board 
a vessel - of- war at the Roads than to send him to 
New York. Rear Admiral Lee has been advised of 
this arrangement. 

Mr. Harris desires to call at the Navy Depart- 
ment. He thinks he can give important information 
which might secure the arrest or capture of George 
N. Saunders. 

He has spoken here of the defences of Charles- 
ton, but his statements are wild, and frequently incon- 
sistent. 

Major Reid Saunders, or, as he calls himself, Geo. 
E. Sheaver (clerk), with two other persons, taken in 
the Mercury, will be sent North in the Courier. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. 20th, 1863. 

Commander J. L. Worden, United States Ship 
Montauk, Port Royal : 

Sir : — The tempestuous weather would render it 
improper to expose the Montauk at sea again until 
there has been some change. At this moment an in- 
side blockading force is holding Ossebaw Inlet, coast 
of Georgia, consisting of two regular eleven-inch gun- 
boats, with the Dawn and a mortar vessel. The Canan- 
daigua, a formidable ship, is also lying off the bar. 
The Nashville is up the Great Ogeechee, having been 
fitted as a privateer, and is lying under a five or 
seven gun battery, waiting to run to sea. 

We have a report that the Fingal (now called the 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 389 

Atlanta), an iron-clad, will attempt to aid the Nashville 
in escaping. 

As the most important operations on this coast 
must be delayed until other vessels arrive, and until 
those now here can be made ready, it strikes me a 
very important and handsome thing- may be done by 
capturing this fort on the Ogeechee, and in destroying 
the Nashville, and, should matters go well, in burning 
the railroad bridge which the gunboats can lay along- 
side of. 

Will you please then get ready for this service 
with the least delay possible ? Pilots will be provided, 
and if the Canandaigua remains outside, the gunboats 
will be necessarily under your orders as senior officer. 

I shall see you myself before you leave, when 
further details will be arranged. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. 22d, 1863. 

Captain S. W. Godon, United States Ship Powhatan, 
off Charleston : 

Sir : — The Rhode Island takes up the two pilots. 
I desire you to give her a station nearest to the bar, 
that a system of reconnoissance and soundings may be 
commenced in the channels over it. 

This must be done at night, with great caution, • 
in order not to excite the attention of the enemy. 
The object is to obtain not alone the depth of water, 
but to acquire such familiarity with the features of 
the channels, as to enable the pilots hereafter to 
plant the necessary buoys m one night. 



390 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

You will please give Commander Trenchard such 
assistance as you may deem necessary, and such coun- 
sel as your long experience off Charleston may render 
desirable. 

You had better come down yourself and coal, as 
soon as you can. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



(Confidential.) 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. 24th, 1S63. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of the Department's confidential communication of 
the 6th inst. 

The Department has been informed, through my 
private letters to the Assistant Secretary, of the gen- 
ral character and extent of the defences of Charleston. 
I shall endeavor to execute its wishes, with such force 
as the Department may deem necessary for this pur- 
pose. 

The Department is aware that I have never shrunk 
from assuming any responsibility which circumstances 
called for, nor desired to place any failure of mine on 
. others. But the interests involved in the success or fail- 
ure of this undertaking strike me as so momentous to 
the nation, at home and abroad, at this particular period^ 
that I am confident it will require no urging from me 
to induce the Department to put at my disposal every 
means in its power to insure success, especially by 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 39 1 

sending additional iron-clads, if possible, to those men- 
tioned in your dispatch. 

The army is not ready even for the limited co- 
operation it can give, though anxious to render every 
assistance. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. 26th, 1863. 

Captain P. Drayton, United States Ship Passaic, 
Port Royal : 

Sir : — You will please proceed with the Passaic, 
under your command, in tow of the Canandaigua, to 
Wassaw Sound. 

For the better guarding of that sound and the 
gunboats now there against any attempt which may 
be made by the iron-clad steamer Fingal (otherwise 
called the Atlanta), to enter Wa«saw, you will take 
such position as you may deem most desirable. 

If from information received there you should con- 
sider it proper to ascend the Wilmington river, you 
can do so. 

The Fingal, as I have every reason to believe, is 
either in St. Augustine creek or at its mouth, ready 
to pass into Wilmington river by the first opportunity. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



392 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. 26lh, 1S63. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navj' : 

Sir: — I had not time by the last mail to 
give any particulars of the destruction of the rebel 
steamer Tropic, formerly the Huntress, of Charleston. 

On the morning of the i8th inst., between three 
and four o'clock, an alarm was given from the south 
side of the blockade. Soon after a bright light was 
seen to the southward, and the Quaker City, Com- 
mander Frailey, immediately steamed to the spot and 
found the steamer in flames, but whether she was fired 
intentionally or not, does not yet appear. 

Commander Frailey at once sought to pick up the 
passengers and crew, who had taken to their boats, 
but before being taken on board the Quaker City, 
they managed to destroy most of their papers. Some, 
however, marked No. i, were found, which are here- 
with transmitted. 

One of the passengers, a Mr. Vernon, is an Eng- 
lishman, and was at the time proceeding to Europe 
to carry out a contract with the rebel Secreiary of 
War to supply the government with medicines, cloth- 
ing, arms, powder, etc. This contract is among the 
papers. 

Another passenger, Mr. T. Steers, was apparently 
engaged in the same business ; he says he is from 
Pennsylvania. 

Most of the officers are citizens of the Southern 
States, and by the shipping articles, most of the crew, 
but how far this is so I have no means of ascer- 
taining. 

I have transferred the captain, passengers, engi- 
neers, and sixteen of her crew, directing Acting Vol- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 393 

unteer Lieutenant Eaton to communicate with Rear 
Admiral Paulding as to their disposition. The second 
mate, Black, the Nassau pilot, Spatcher, the paymaster, 
and Johnson, the Charleston pilot, and five of the crew, 
go North in the Restless. 

May I ask the Department to give the necessary 
orders to Rear Admiral Paulding before the Circassian 
and Restless arrive at New York. 

I enclose herewith (marked No. 2), a list of the 
officers, passengers, and crew, with their places of na- 
tivity, forwarded to me by Captain Godon, adding, 
however, that this list differs on the latter point from 
the shipping articles. 

I call attention to Mr. Johnson, the Charleston 
pilot, who has run in vessels on the coast before. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



(Confidential.) 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. 28th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Wellks, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — Considering it desirable to test in every 
way the efficiency of the iron-clads that had arrived, 
and to avail myself of their presence until others 
came, I sent Commander Worden down to Ossebaw to 
operate upon Great Ogeechee river, and capture, if he 
could, the fort at Genesis Point, under cover of which 
the Nashville was lying, — now fitted as a privateer, 
and waiting to run the blockade, — and in case of 
success the railroad was also accessible. 



394 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

I enclose copy (marked No. i) of Commander 
Worden's report, received at midnight by the hands of 
Ensign Johnson, one of my aids, who, in one of our 
armed tugs, witnessed and participated in the attack. 
He informs me that the fort was a very formidable 
casemated earthwork, with bomb-proofs, and mounting 
nine guns, the firing from which was excellent. 

We have obtained valuable information on the suc- 
cess of the working of the fifteen-inch gun, and, 
although the Montauk was struck thirteen times, she 
received no injury. 

My own previous impressions of these vessels, 
frequently expressed to Assistant Secretary Fox, have 
been confirmed, viz., that whatever degree of impene- 
trability they might have, there was no corresponding 
quality of aggression or destructiveness, as against forts, 
the slowness of fire giving full time for the gunners 
in the fort to take shelter in the bomb-proofs. This 
experiment also convinces me of another impression 
firmly held, and often expressed, that in all such ope- 
rations, to secure success, troops are necessary. 

The distance at which Commander Worden was 
compelled to engage, not far from his extreme range, 
may modify to some extent the above views. 

The Department however will observe how diffi- 
cult, if not impossible, it will be to remove sunken ob- 
structions and piling in shallow water, under fire, very 
different from rafts or booms, floating chains, etc. 

The Fingal left Savannah, and has got to the 
mouth of St. Augustine creek; whether to try Pu- 
laski, and run by it to sea, or to Wassaw, on her way 
to Ossebaw, to convoy the Nashville, I know not, bilt 
most probably the latter. I am waiting for the weather 
to moderate to get the Passaic towed to Wassaw, in 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 395 

order to intercept the Fingal and protect the block- 
ading force there ; but these monitors are so unsafe at 
sea, and so helpless in themselves, that the weather 
must be narrowly watched. 

I had the smoke-stack of the Ironsides taken 
down, and ordered a trial trip to be made without it, 
but the result proved so unfavorable in consequence of 
the escape of gas, particularly in the engine-room, that 
I had it replaced. 

I then directed a board of officers to examine 
into the practicability of moving the turret forward, 
where it should originally have been placed, but the 
board reported that, though in every way desirable, 
yet on account of its great weight, eighteen tons, it 
is impracticable, with the means at our command, to 
move it. 

Where there are no means of feeling one's way 
with the lead, it is of the utmost importance that 
the view should be clear ahead. 

A greater blunder in a matter of so much mo- 
ment I do not remember to have met with before, 
as the vessel may be ashore before she is half in 
action. 

Enclosed (marked No. 2) is Captain Turner's re- 
port of the effect of cutting down the smoke-stack, 
which perfectly illustrates what I have written. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



396 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Jan. 31st, 1863. 

Captain C. O. Boutelle, A. C. S. United States Coast Survey, 
Steamer Bibb : 

Sir : — My dispatch steamer, the Water Witch, hav- 
ing broken down and been towed North, until I can 
get the Flambeau here to replace her, I have again to 
call upon your services with the Bibb, — which you 
are always so ready to give, — to request that you will 
receive on board certain supplies for the Sebago, that 
vessel being much in want of them. 

You will please proceed with them, so soon as 
you are ready, to Georgetown, returning from there to 
Port Royal. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C, Jan. 31st, 1863. 

Captain T. Turner, United States Ship 
New Ironsides : 

Sir: — You will proceed, as soon as possible, with 
the New Ironsides, under your command, off Charleston. 

Enclosed is a copy of a communication from Com- 
mander Parrott. It contains all I know in reference 
to the late attack on the blockading fleet by iron-clads 
out of Charleston. 

You will assume charge of the blockade as senior 
officer present, and will receive from Captain Godoft, 
of the Powhatan, such information as his experience 
there will enable him to give. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 397 

I desire you to take such position with the New 
Ironsides as may best enable you to prevent the rebel 
iron-clads from again attacking the blockading fleet, 
and if you deem it most advantageous to go inside 
the bar, you will make such arrangement as to signals 
with Captain Godon as you may consider necessary. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. ist, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Wellks, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report the following 
positions on blockade of^the vessels of this squadron: — 

At Georgetown, United States steamer Sebago, 

Oft Bull's Bay, United States steamer Flambeau, 

Off Charleston, United States steamers New Iron- 
sides, Powhatan, Housatonic, Flag, Quaker City, James 
Adger, Augusta, Huron, Ottawa, Unadilla, Memphis, Stet- 
tin, and schooners Blunt and America. 

In Stono River, United States steamer Commodore 
McDonough. 

In North Edisto, United States steamer South 
Carolina. 

In St. Helena, United States barque Kingfisher. 

In Wassaw, United States steamers Passaic and Mar- 
blehead. 

In Ossebaw, United States steamers Montauk, Sen- 
eca, Wissahickon, Dawn, and mortar schooner C. P. 
Williams. 

Guarding St. Catherine's, Sapelo, Doboy, and St. 
Simon's, United States steamers Paul Jones, Potomska, 



398 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Madgie, barques Braziliera and Fernandina, and mortar 
schooner Norfolk Packet. 

St. Andrew's, United States barque Midnight. 

At Fernandina, United States steamer Mohawk. 

In St. John's, United States steamers Norwich and 
Uncas. 

In Port Royal, most of them undergoing repairs 
and taking in provisions, United States steamer Wabash, 
United States ship Vermont, United States steamers 
Canandaigua, Mercedita, Keystone State, Conemaugh, 
schooner Para, and tugs Dandelion, Daffodil, Columbine, 
Rescue, and Pettit. 

The Hope is used as a dispatch boat. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 2d, 1S63. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — I have to report that about four o'clock 
of the morning of the 31st ultimo, during the obscurity 
of a thick haze, two iron-clad gunboats came out of 
Charleston by the main ship channel, unperceived by 
the squadron, and commenced a raid upon the block- 
ading fleet. 

Most of the latter were of the light class of pur- 
chased vessels; two of the heaviest men-of-war, the 
Powhatan and Canandaigua, being at this port coaling 
and repairing. 

The Mercedita was the first vessel attacked. Her 
officers and crew had been partiaularly watchful during 
the night, looking out for suspected vessels, and at 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 399 

three o'clock had slipped cable and overhauled a troop 
steamer running for the channel, by mistake. She had 
returned to her anchorage, and Captain Stellvvagen had 
gone to his room for a short time, leaving Lieutenant 
Commander Abbott on deck, when one of the iron- 
clads suddenly appeared, her approach having been con- 
cealed by the haze and mist of the atmosphere. 

The vessel was immediately hailed, and an order 
given to fire, but the iron-clad being close aboard, and 
lying low in the water, no guns could be brought to 
bear. A heavy rifle shot was fired from the enemy, 
which, entering the starboard side of the Mercedita, 
passed through her condenser, the steam drum of her 
port boiler, and exploded against the port side, blow- 
ing a hole in its exit some four or five feet square, 
killing the gunner, and, by the escape of steam, scald- 
ing a number of the men, and rendering her motive 
power apparently useless. Unable to use his guns, and 
being at the mercy of the enemy, who was lying 
alongside on her starboard quarter, all further resist- 
ance was deemed hopeless by Captain Stellwagen, and 
he surrendered. 

The crew and officers were paroled, though nothing 
was said of the ship ; the executive officer, Lieutenant 
Commander T. Abbott, having gone on board and made 
the arrangement. 

The iron-clads, leaving the Mercedita to her fate, 
to sink or not, next engaged the Keystone State, 
Commander Le Roy, which was also attacked by the 
other. Their fire was gallantly returned, but a shell 
exploding in the fore hold of this vessel, she was set 
on fire. Commander Le Roy kept off until it was got 
under, when he steered again for one of the iron-clads, 
ordered full steam, and determined to try to run her 



400 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

down. The guns had been trained and depressed for 
a plunging fire at the moment of collision, and the 
ship had acquired the speed of twelve knots, when a 
shell or shot from the enemy passed through both 
steam chests, wholly disabling her boilers, and rendering 
her powerless. Ten rifle shell struck the Keystone State; 
two burst on the quarter-deck, but most of them 
struck the hull, being near and below the water line. 

In the meantime the Augusta, Commander Parrott, 
the Quaker City, Commander Frailey, and the Memphis, 
Acting Lieutenant Watmough, kept up a fire upon the 
enemy, diverting their attention from the Keystone 
State, which was soon after taken in tow by the Mem- 
phis and drawn away from the fire. The Augusta 
and Quaker City were both struck in their hulls ; 
the Memphis only in her rigging. The Housatonic 
gave chase, and a shot from her struck the pilot- 
house of one of the iron-clads, doing, it is thought, 
some damage, and carrying away one of her flags. 

The rebel vessels then passed to the northward, 
receiving the fire of our ships, and took refuge in the 
Swash channel, behind the shoals. 

The only casualties were on the Mercedita and the 
Keystone State. On the Keystone State they are very 
large, about one quarter of her crew killed and 
wounded ; among the former, the medical officer of the 
ship. Assistant Surgeon Jacob H. Gotwold, who was 
scalded to death whilst rendering surgical aid to one 
of the wounded men. Nine of those who died per- 
ished from the escape of steam when the boiler and 
steam chimney were penetrated ; and among the 
wounded the greater number received their injuries 
from the same cause. 

As the Mercedita was the only vessel which sur- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 4OI 

rendered, I have directed a court of inquiry to exam- 
ine into all the circumstances of the case, as well as 
into the terms under which the surrender was made. 
This investigation has been asked for by Captain 
Stellwagen. 

I received this intelligence on Saturday, at three 
o'clock p. m., by the Augusta, which ship immediately 
returned to Charleston. The Mercedita soon after ar- 
rived, and the Keystone State in tow of the Memphis, 
when the latter vessel was at once sent back to her 
station. The James Adger, Commander Patterson, which 
had towed the Passaic to Wassaw to watch the Fingal, 
much more formidable than the Charleston iron-clads, 
was also turned back as she was coming into Port 
Royal, and ordered to Charleston ; and the Powhatan, 
through the commendable zeal of Captain Godon, was 
got ready by nine o'clock p. m. I had the channel 
and bar buoys lighted, when she passed out safely. 

The New Ironsides, which, ever since her arrival 
here, has been undergoing various alterations ordered 
by the Department, and of which it has been advised, 
had taken out her masts at twelve o'clock on the day we 
received the news. She had to take on coal, but suc- 
ceeded in getting away at eight o'clock next morning. 

I forward herewith copies of the reports of Cap- 
tain Stellwagen, Lieutenant Commander Abbott, and 
Commander Le Roy (marked Nos. i, 2, and 3), also the 
reports of the casualties on the Mercedita and the 
Keystone State (marked No. 4 and 5). 

On the Mercedita there were four killed and three 
wounded ; on the Keystone State, twenty killed and 
twenty wounded. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

26 Rear Admiral. 



402 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

P. S. — Since the above dispatch was written, and 
as the mail was about to close, I received the report 
herewith enclosed (marked No. 6) of Captain W. R. 
Taylor, of the Housatonic, the senior officer off Charles- 
ton, who, however, was stationed at the north-east end 
of the line of blockade, near the Rattlesnake shoal. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 

P. S. — Enclosed (marked No. 7) is an extract from 
the log of the Keystone State, just forwarded to me 
by Commander Le Roy. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 3d, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — On Saturday, when I received the informa- 
tion of affairs off Charleston referred to in my pre- 
vious dispatch. No. 53, there were also vague rumors 
that the two gunboats holding Stono Inlet had been 
engaged ; heavy firing having been heard in that direc- 
tion. 

At two o'clock a. m. of the ist inst, the Com- 
modore McDonough came into Port Royal, and I regret 
to add, reported the capture, by three rebel batteries, 
of the United States ship Isaac Smith. 

It appears from Lieutenant Commander Bacon's 
report (herewith enclosed, marked No. i), that on the 
afternoon of the 30th ult. he sent the Isaac Smith, 
Acting Lieutenant Conover, up the Stono river to make 
a reconnoissance, as had been frequently done for weeks 
prcv'ous. She passed some miles beyond Legarevillc 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 4O3 

without seeing an enemy, and was on her way back, 
when, about a mile above that place, and in a bend 
of the river, three batteries, heretofore concealed, opened 
a concentrated fire upon her from heavy rifled guns. 

Lieutenant Commander Bacon, who, with the Com- 
modore McDonough, was anchored lower down the 
river, immediately on hearing the firing proceeded to 
her assistance. 

Soon after he had got under way, Lieutenant Com- 
mander Bacon discovered that a white flag was flying 
from the Isaac Smith, and that the firing from the 
shore had ceased. 

On arriving abreast of Legareville, she was seen 
to be aground about a quarter of a mile above the 
bend in the river, and two of her boats were observed 
going on shore loaded with officers and men. The 
Commodore McDonough stood up towards the bend, 
with the intention of either towing her off or destroy- 
ing her; but after reaching the bend he was opened 
upon by the same three batteries ; one on the bend, 
one half a mile above the bend, on St, John's Island, 
mounting six heavy guns, and one back and to the 
left of Legareville. 

Lieutenant Commander Bacon immediately returned 
the fire from his rifled guns, and by keeping his ves- 
sel in motion, going ahead and backing, succeeded in 
escaping injury, though the enemy's shell struck all 
around the ship. It becoming dark, he ceased firing, 
and dropped down to the entrance of the bar. 

Lieutenant Commander Bacon reports that the Isaac 
Smith was under a tremendous cross-fire, and just be- 
fore it ceased a large cloud of steam was seen ascend- 
ing from her, which probably rendered her unmanage 
able, and caused her to run aground. 



404 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

As the Department is aware, the Stono river 
was held by me in case of its being required as a 
base for further military operations. I had reduced 
my force in that river, under the pressure of the 
blockade, retaining there two vessels of light draft 
formerly used as freight and ferry boats, though well 
commanded, and used to keep up a series of recon- 
noissances to watch the movements of the enemy, and 
to give notice of and prevent the erection of any ad- 
ditional batteries. 

But, notwithstanding all the vigilance exercised by 
the commanding officers of the Isaac Smith and the 
Commodore McDonough, the enemy, who holds com- 
plete possession of the surrounding country and islands, 
succeeded in erecting the batteries by which the Isaac 
Smith was taken, masking them so skillfully that their 
existence was unknown. 

I have had no means of ascertaining the casual- 
ties on board the Isaac Smith, but it is my purpose 
to do so by a flag of truce at the earliest moment, 
though I presume the Department will receive infor- 
mation through Southern sources on this point before 
it can be obtained here. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 3d, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — I have the honor to enclose (marked No. 
i) a copy of Commander John L. Worden's report of 
his second attack on the battery on the Ogeechee 
river. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 405 

I do not feel justified to authorize another at- 
tempt, as the ammunition for the fifteen-inch guns is 
now very much reduced. 

I enclose (marked No. 2) also a copy of Captain 
Drayton's report of his reconnoisnance up the Wil- 
mington river. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 3d, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I deem it my duty to say to the Depart- 
ment that Acting Master E. Van Sill, who takes North 
the Princess Royal, has been in active service during 
the war, was in the Unadilla during the action at Port 
Royal, November 7th, 1881, under Lieutenant Command- 
ing N. Collins, and has been the executive officer of 
the Unadilla under her present lieutenant commander, 
Quackenbush, who speaks of him in the highest terms, 
which my inspection of the Unadilla, a short time since 
fully justified. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F.* Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 8th, 1863. 

Captain T. Turner, United States Ship New Ironsides, 
Port Royal: 

Sir : — You will please proceed with the New 
Ironsides, under your command, off Charleston, and re- 
sume charge of the blockade of that port, taking every 



406 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

precaution, in placing the vessels, against a violation of 
the blockade, and requesting the commanding officers 
to exercise great vigilance on their respective stations, 
rendered the more necessary by recent events. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 8th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — Recent events on the Gulf, and elsewhere, 
have stimulated the enemy on this coast to use every 
means to annoy the vessels engaged on the blockade. 

The peculiar character of the inland waters is 
particularly favorable to such attempts, enabling him to 
make descents on weak points, and securing to himself 
a safe retreat from pursuit. 

The Department is aware, though very few persons 
outside of it are, of the nature of our tenure of the 
coasts of the three States within my command, with 
the numerous inlets and sounds, all of which must be 
guarded. 

My force is •already extended to its utmost capacity 
of expansion, whilst, daily, more and more vigorous 
efforts are making in England, assisted by her colonies 
off this coast, to break the blockade. Many steamers 
of light draft, on our occupation of the coast, escaped 
up the various inland waters, where our vessels could 
not follow them. These may now be used against us, 
especially at such points where I have only been able 
to station single vessels ; several of these, too, without 
the propelling power of steam, and many of them of 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. AfiJ 

a character unsuited to resist sudden attacks, though 
adapted to the purposes of an ordinary blockade. 

Under these circumstances, I have to request the 
Department to send me such reinforcement as will 
enable me to meet the new state of affairs on this 
coast. 

I am inculcating vigilance everywhere ; but sudden 
attacks, if not surprises, by steamers, iron-clad or 
otherwise, under cover of darkness, are possible under 
any degree of watchfulness. Vessels cannot have 
pickets out like an army, though boats, in particular 
localities, may be, and often are, used ; but these 
must generally be at anchor, and their crews regularly 
relieved. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 

P. S. — I forward, herewith, a chart, on tracing 
paper, of the coast, showing the positions of the 
blockading vessels of this squadron on the 31st of 
January, 1863, which may prove interesting to the 
Department. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 9th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

Sir: — Since my dispatch No. 53, reporting the 
attack of the rebel iron-clads on the blockading fleet 
off Charleston, nothing of importance has occurred 
there. 



408 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

The New Ironsides, Powhatan, and Canandaigua 
form part of the force stationed off Charleston ; and 
that port is now more stringently blockaded than pre- 
vious to the raid of the iron clads. 

I have heard through Captain Turner, who saw 
the papers in the hands of an English officer, that 
General Beauregard has issued a proclamation setting 
forth the dispersion of the fleet, and declaring the 
blockade of that port raised : the best answer to 
which I have above given. 

One of the wounded crew of the Keystone State, 
John Sullivan, landsman, has died since my previous 
letter. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 6th, 1863. 

Commander W. E. Le Roy, United States Ship 
Keystone State, Port Royal : 

Sir : — I have received your communication of 
yesterday requesting a court of inquiry upon the affair 
of the 31st ult., off" Charleston, if the public interests 
will permit. 

While appreciating the motive which induces you 
to seek such an investigation, I deem it unnecessary, 
for the facts submitted by me to the Department, of 
your unequal contest with the iron vessels, are cred- 
itable to you and your officers and crew. 

It is but just to add, there is every reason to 
elieve that, had not your ship been unfortunately dis- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 409 

abled at a most critical time, you would have suc- 
ceeded in destroying one of the iron-clads, even at 
the risk of losing your own vessel. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

' Rear Admiral. 



(Confidential.) 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 9th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of ihe Navy : 

Sir : — I herewith enclose to the Department a 
confidential communication from Captain Turner, of the 
New Ironsides. 

I respectfully submit to the Department that 
H. B. M. steamer Petrel should be ordered out of 
Charleston by the British admiral, or Lord Lyons. In 
the history of no blockade can be found, in my judg- 
ment, such liberality to foreign vessels of war, in hav- 
ing access to blockaded ports, as our Government has 
evinced. The Department will see how prejudicial her 
presence, in many ways, may be ; and if in the line 
of fire, serious complications may occur. 

I do not hesitate to add that the officer com- 
manding the Petrel, from his well-known rebel sym- 
pathies, is especially obnoxious, and that he presents 
a broad contrast to all the officers of the British navy 
it has been my fortune to meet with on this coast, 
who have frequently visited the blockading fleet, and 
who always have been governed, in their intercourse, 
by every professional propriety as officers and gen- 
tlemen. 



4IO OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I commend to the Department the confidential 
nature of Captain Turner's information ; and how neces- 
sary it will be to use the information he conveys, 
obtained from others, with great caution. 

Respectfully, etc, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 

P. S. — Since writing the above I have seen the 
Savannah Republican, of February 2d, 1863, containing 
General Beauregard's proclamation declaring the block- 
ade of Charleston raised. The paper further states that 
General Beauregard placed a steamer at the disposi- 
tion of the foreign consuls, to see for themselves that 
no blockade existed ; and that the British consul, with 
the commander of the British war steamer Petrel, had 
previously gone five miles beyond the usual anchorage 
of the blockaders, and could see nothing of them with 
their glasses. 

It is needless to say that the statements contained 
therein are utterly false, and ' the Department will 
appreciate the conduct of the commander of the 
Petrel. 

A full refutation, in an official form, will be sent 

by the next mail. 

S. F. D. P., 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Fort Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. loth, 1863. 

Captain C. O. Boutelle, Assistant Coast Survey, United 
States Coast Survey Steamer Bibb : 

Sir : — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your 
communication of the 31st ult, reporting your opera- 
tions in pursuance of my orders of the 24th January. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 4II 

Your examination of the channels and water on 
the Charleston bar seems to have been conducted with 
great skill and boldness, and I beg you to receive my 
thanks and commendation for the same, and for the 
important information obtained. 

Respectfully, etc, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C, Feb. nth, 1863. 

Captain C. O. Boutelle, Assistant Coast Survey, United 
States Coast Survey Steamer Bibb : 

Sir : — I have to acknowledge your communica- 
tion of February 3d, reporting your proceedings in 
the execution of my orders of the 31st ult., which, 
in consequence of the pressure on my available ves- 
sels, I was compelled to request you to carry out. 

But, whether in the discharge of your more legiti- 
mate duties of the Coast Survey, or when called upon 
to perform services as a vessel of the squadron, I ever 
find you ready and willing. 

Your going off and rescuing the transport steamer 
Pilot Boy, wholly disabled, belonging to General Fos- 
ter's command, finding her at sea, and towing her 130 
miles, is very creditable to your energies ; and I pre- 
sume General Foster will make a proper acknowledg- 
ment of the same. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



4 1 2 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. nth, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — In my previous dispatch (No. 70), written 
just as the mail was closing, I informed the Depart- 
ment that I would send a refutation, in an official 
form, of the statements made in General Beauregard's 
proclamation as to the blockade of Charleston, published 
in the Charleston and Savannah papers, and accom- 
panied by assertions made with the apparent sanction 
of certain foreign functionaries. 

The emphatic letter of Captain Turner (No. i), 
the clear and decided statement of the officers (No. 
2), which he forwards, together with the previous 
inquiries and examination of log-book made by Captain 
Godon, of the Powhatan, who was the senior officer 
present, previous to the arrival of the New Ironsides, 
and whom I had dispatched to Charleston the day of 
the raid, leave me nothing to add, save to call the 
especial attention of the Department to the facts thus 
elicited. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 12th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — The Mercedita having been repaired of the 
injuries received from an attack of two rebel rams 
or iron-clads, off Charleston, on the morning of the 
31st ult., I am dispatching her to Philadelphia. 

The Department has been informed, in my pre- 
vious dispatches, that this vessel surrendered to the 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 413 

rebel naval force on that occasion, and that her crew 
and officers were paroled by verbal agreement, the 
enemy having refused to take off the crew and offi- 
cers, though nothing was said of the vessel itself, be- 
lieved by both parties to be sinking. 

The court of inquiry, which I immediately con- 
vened to inquire into all the circumstances of this 
surrender, and particularly into the terms of the parole, 
have not yet closed their investigation, but I have 
scrupulously avoided doing anything which could be 
construed into a violation of those terms, as under- 
stood by me. No change has been made in her arma- 
ment, nor has anything been removed from her, every- 
thing awaiting the orders of the Department. 

I would not, in sending her North, let her tow 
the gunboat Ottawa, now in the harbor and broken 
down, which vessel I desire much to get to a navy 
yard. She tows, however, an English steamer, Ossian, 
referred to in my dispatch No. 79. I also send a few 
sick in her. 

The proceedings of the court of inquiry will be 
forwarded by next mail. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. i6th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — I have the honor to enclose (marked No. i), 
a communication to Commander C. R. P. Rodgers from 
Arnold Harris, who was the master of the sloop Mer- 
cury, captured off Charleston with important dispatches. 



414 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

The Department is better informed than myself as 
to the previous connection of Mr. Harris with the 
navy, and in what light he should be viewed ; but 
the important service rendered by him in preventing 
the destruction of the rebel dispatches would seem to 
entitle him to some consideration. I am sure that 
neither Admiral Lee nor the commander of the Brandy- 
wine would, any more than myself, use towards this 
individual any unnecessary harshness. 

If his statement be correct, his present position is 
that of a deserter from the Confederates ; and I so 
treated him ; but, as I said before, the Department may 
have information which places him in an entirely dif- 
ferent position. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. iSth, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to forward herewith the 
proceedings of a court of inquiry in the case of the 
Mercedita, with my approval. 

After reporting the facts, the court is of opinion : 

1st. That further military proceedings are neces- 
sary in this case. 

2d. That the parole given did include the officers 
and crew, but did not include the vessel and its 
equipment. 

It will be, however, for the Department to judge, 
after reviewing the testimony in the case, whether, under 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 415 

all the circumstances, further proceedings are neces- 
sary. 

It strikes me as but fair to state that, if the neg- 
lects pointed out by the court had not existed, the 
result would still have been the same. The contest 
was too unequal ; and I respectfully submit that the 
Department may find it sufficient to express its dis- 
approbation of the want of vigilance and caution, with- 
out ordering a farther trial. 

The thirteen men who deserted in a boat I 
directed Captain Stellwagen to place under confine- 
ment, and to report the fact to Commodore Stribling 
on his arrival at Philadelphia. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 19th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — The fleet captain. Commander C. R. P. 
Rodgers, returned this evening from Wassaw and 
Ossebaw, where I had sent him. At the latter place 
he saw Commander Worden, and examined the effect 
of the enemy's shot on the Montauk. One result 
referred to by him had previously been called to my 
attention, though I have not yet reported it to the 
Department. 

I allude to the effect of shot on the pilot-house, 
causing, by concussion, or percussion, the large nuts, 
screwed on to the bolts inside, to fly off with great 
violence, wrenching off the end of the bolt itself They 
cross the pilot-house and rebound from the opposite 
side. 



4l6 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

This renders the pilot-house most dangerous, and, 
indeed, if often struck, untenable ; and such, in the 
engagement with the Ogeechee battery, was almost the 
case on the Montauk, nearly ten of these nuts having 
been wrenched from the bolts, as above stated. 

Our machine shop has been at work making new 
bolts ; and Commander Worden would like to have 
them all replaced ; but they are large and heavy, and 
we shall not be able to do it. We are also preparing 
a screen of boiler-iron to go around the pilot-houses. 

It may be well to mention that the above effect 
was produced without the round head of the bolt, 
outside, being struck, but by the impact of a shot 
between the bolts, not weighing over a thirty-two- 
pounder. No such effect was produced on the turret. 
Thinking the Department would like to have these 
facts, I write them in haste to save the mail. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, P'eb. 27th, 1863. 

Commander John L. Worden, United States Ship 
Montauk, Ossebaw : 

Sir : — For various reasons, I have determined to 
test those iron-clads which as yet have made but little 
use of their guns, and am sending the Passaic, Pa- 
tapsco, and Nahant, to try the Genesis Point fort. 

You will please act as a reserve, and you will 
have to forego what I know your gallantry and earnest 
desire would impel you to do, join in. But the Chief 
of the Bureau has just cautioned me, by letter, against 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 417 

the use of the fifteen-inch gun ; none have been fired 
over three hundred times. ^ 

I avail myself of this occasion to say how much 
I have valued your services in the Ogeechee, and your 
gallant attacks on the forts, which the obstructions pre- 
vented your capturing. 

Please give Captain Drayton the results of your 
valuable experience there, and as soon as you can be 
spared, return to Port Royal. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C, Feb. 27th, 1863, 

Captain P. Drayton, United States Ship Passaic, 
Senior Officer, Wassavv : 

Sir : — I have determined, for many reasons, most 
of which have been stated to you by the fleet captain, 
to try the iron-clads against the Genesis Point fort, 
on the Ogeechee. 

You will, therefore, proceed to that river and as- 
sume the direction of this movement. A steamer is 
sent to tow you out of Wassaw. Before leaving there, 
send the surveying vessels from those waters, and 
anchor the Marblehead where you may deem best for 
covering the blockade, and at the same time for en- 
abhng her to escape from the Fingal, should she come 
down. 

Commanders Ammen and Downes leave in the 
morning, and are ordered to report to you, in Ossebaw, 
with their vessels. 27 



41 8 . OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Should the fort be reduced, it may lead to the 
capture of the Nashville, or her destruction, provided 
the gunboats can go on up the river ; this I leave 
to your discretion. Care should be observed, in ascend- 
ing the Ogeechee, wherever the banks may offer pro- 
tection for riflemen. I believe there are no batteries 
unless very recently erected. 

Commander Worden will be directed to act as a 
reserve ; his guns having been already so much used 
that I feel compelled to require this of him. His 
services in those waters, and his gallant attacks on the 
fort, will enable him to give you much valuable infor- 
mation. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



(Confidential.) 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, Feb. 27th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

Sir : — After very mature deliberation, I have de- 
termined to test the three iron-clads, Passaic, Patapsco, 
and Nahant, on the Genesis Point battery, on the 
Ogeechee. 

We find much in them to be attended to, and on 
a trip which I made in the Patapsco up the Broad 
river, though only firing each gun twice, some import- 
ant matters were developed. 

This operation will not retard the great work, but 
yield us advantages in many ways. The Weehawken 
I hope will be ready to try her engine to-morrow ; 
great expedition has been used on her. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 4I9 

I hope the Catskill will be along soon. These 
iron-clads all require so much to be done that I am 
anxious for their early arrival. 

The army is not ready, but doing its best. 

Attempts to run the blockade everywhere are in- 
creasing, and from Fernandina I have news to-day 
which makes me wish that I had a better vessel there 
than the Mohawk. 

Colonel Townsend will inform the Department that 
we are preparing in every possible way, and working 
day and night. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 

P. S. — We are out of provisions, living on the 
army. 

S. F. D. P., 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March 2d, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the satisfaction to inform the De- 
partment of the destruction of the privateer Nashville, 
while lying under the guns of Fort McAllister, on the 
Great Ogeechee, Georgia, by the Montauk, Commander 
Worden, whose inclosed report states succinctly the in- 
teresting particulars. 

The Department is aware that I have had this 
vessel blockaded for eight months, and I am indebted 
to the extreme vigilance and spirit of Lieutenant 
Commander J. L. Davis, of the Wissahickon, Acting 



420 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Lieutenant Barnes, of the Dawn, and later of Lieutenant 
Commander Gibson, of the Seneca, for having been able 
to keep her so long confined to the waters of the 
Ogeechee. 

For several months the Nashville was loaded with 
cotton, but, though constantly on the alert, she never 
ventured to run out. She then withdrew up the Ogee- 
chee, and re-appeared after a length of time, thoroughly- 
fitted as a privateer, and presenting a very fine ap- 
pearance. 

Fort McAllister was strengthened, the river staked, 
with a line of torpedoes in front to prevent its ascent 
by light vessels to cut her out. She has been fre- 
quently seen close under the fort, ready to make a 
dash if the opportunity offered, or was quietly wait- 
ing for an iron-clad to convoy her to sea. 

If I am not misinformed, she had a heavy rifle 
gun on a pivot as a part of her armament, was pro- 
verbially fast, and would doubtless have rivaled the 
Alabama and Oreto in their depredations on our com- 
merce. I have, therefore, never lost sight of the great 
importance of keeping her in or of destroying her, if 
I could. I have accomplished both through the zeal 
and vigilance of my gunboat captains mentioned above, 
and the quick perception and rapid execution of Com- 
mander Worden, who has thus added to his already 
brilliant services. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 42 1 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March 2d, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

Sir: — I have the honor to report the' following 
positions on blockade of the vessels of this squadron : — 

At Georgetown, United States steamer Conemaugh. 

Off Bull's Bay, United States steamer Lodona. 

Off Charleston, United States steamers New Iron- 
sides, Powhatan, Canandaigua, Quaker City, James Adger, 
Augusta, Huron, Stettin, and schooners G. W, Blunt and 
America. 

In Stono, United States steamer Pawnee, Unadilla, 
and Commodore McDonough. 

In North Edisto, United States steamer South 
Carolina. 

In St. Helena, United States barque Kingfisher. 

In Wassaw, United States steamer Marblehead. 

In Ossebaw, United States steamers Passaic, Montauk, 
Patapsco, Nahant, Sebago, Seneca, Wissahickon, Dawn, 
and mortar schooners Para, C. P. Williams, and Norfolk 
Packet. 

Guarding St. Catherine's, Sapelo, Doboy, and St. 
Simon's Sounds, United States steamers Paul Jones, 
Keystone State, Potomska, Wamsutta, and barques Bra- 
ziliera and Fernandin^. 

In St. Andrew's, United States barque Midnight. 

At Fernandina, United States steamer Mohawk. 

In St. John's river, United States steamers Norwich 
and Uncas. 

In Port Royal, flag ship Wabash, store ship Ver- 
mont; United States steamers Housatonic, Flag, Mem- 
phis, Weehawken, Madgie, undergoing repairs and taking 



422 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

in provisions ; and tugs Daffodil, Columbine, Pettit, 
Rescue, and Dandelion. 

The United States steamer Flambeau, and schooner 
Hope, are used as dispatch vessels. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March 4th, 1863. 

Captain P. Drayton, United States Ship Passaic, 
Senior Officer, Ossebavv : 

Sir: — I have received your communication of yes- 
terday, giving the particulars of your attack on Fort 
McAllister. 

The results have been of great service in testing 
not only the resisting but the aggressive power of 
the iron-clads, which will be of much use in future 
operations. 

As nothing will be gained by renewing the 
attack, you will therefore withdraw the Passaic and 
all the other vessels from Ossebaw, returning to this 
anchorage; leaving only the Seneca and Dawn, which 
will assume such positions as may be most judicious 
in the blockade of those waters, and which the long 
experience of Lieutenant Commander Gibson and Act- 
ing Lieutenant Barnes will enable them to do. 

The Ericsson is still off Ossebaw, ready to tow 
the mortar schooners or other vessels here. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 423 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March ist, 1S63. 

Commander John L. Wordkn, United States Ship 
Monlauk, Port Royal : 

Sir : — I have the pleasure to acknowledge the 
receipt of your interesting report of the 28th ult., in- 
forming me of the destruction of the Nashville. 

This vessel, after being a long time blockaded in 
the waters of the Great Ogeechee, had been, according 
to the best information I could receive, fitted out as a 
privateer to depredate on our commerce. This cir- 
cumstance adds much to the importance of her destruc- 
tion ; and I desire you to receive my thanks for the 
same, and the expression of my admiration at the 
manner in which you have accomplished this most 
desirable result, under the guns of a very strong fort, 
shielded from approach by staking and torpedoes. 

You have thus added to your already distinguished 
services and well-earned reputation. 

Will you also convey to your officers and crew 
my commendation of their good conduct, not only on 
this occasion, but during the previous attacks of the 
Montauk on the fort, and their services generally in 
the Ogeechee, which you have brought so favorably 
to my notice, by reading to them this communication 
on the first convenient occasion. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



424 OFFiCxAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March 6th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — The Department has already been informed 
of my desire, before entering upon more important ope- 
rations, to subject the various mechanical appliances of 
the iron-clads to the full test of active service, and to 
give the advantage of target practice to the officers 
and men, with their new ordnance. For this purpose 
I had ordered a concentration in the Ogeechee of such 
of these vessels as were ready, to attack Fort McAllister, 
and secure or destroy the Nashville. 

Before this concentration could take place, the 
Nashville was destroyed by Commander Worden, in 
the Montauk, the particulars of which occurrence I re- 
ported to the Department by the last mail. 

The iron-clads having, however, arrived in Ossebaw, 
I directed Captain Drayton, of the Passaic; to go on 
with the attack on the fort, accompanied by the Pa- 
tapsco and Nahant ; the Montauk having been three 
times under fire of the fort, and sufficiently tested, was 
not to join in. 

I received, last evening, Captain Drayton's detailed 
report of his eight hours' bombardment, with a state- 
ment of the damage done to his vessel ; and also the 
reports of Commanders Ammen and Downes to him, 
all of which are enclosed (marked Nos. i, 2, 3), and 
I think will be read with great interest by the 
Department, for it will not fail to perceive that valu- 
able information has been elicited, and most important 
data obtained ; and I feel thankful that this I have 
done without any loss of life. Except that the fort 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 425 

might possibly protect another blockade- runner, its 
capture was of no special practical importance. 

The injury to the Montauk from the torpedo is 
the most serious that has occurred, and will require 
some ten days to repair; but the Department will re- 
member the invaluable service she performed while re- 
ceiving it. 

I think it worthy of mentioning that this bom- 
bardment, so fruitful as giving us experience, was wit- 
nessed by Brigadier-General Seymour, the chief of 
artillery, and Captain Duane, the chief engineer of this 
millitary department ; and I shall be able to receive 
from these gentlemen the results of their observation, 
which, representing as they do special branches of the 
military service, will be interesting and important. 

I cannot close this communication without speak- 
ing of Captain Drayton, who has been one of my 
commanding officers since October, 1861. He has per- 
formed this service with that ability, judgment, and 
calm courage which has ever marked his execution 
of my orders. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral Com. South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March 7th, 1863. 

Chief Engineer Alban C. Stimers, United States Navj-, 

Port Royal, South Carolina : « 

Sir : — Having expressed a desire to report your 
experience in the recent attack on Fort McAllister by 
the iron-clads, and being yourself on the Passaic dur- 



426 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

ing the engagement, I have concluded to permit you 
to go North, although your services are valuable here 
in superintending the necessary repairs of the iron- 
clads. 

You will therefore return in the Ericsson, going 
direct to Baltimore, and proceed at once to Washing- 
ton, taking my official dispatches in charge. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March 7th, 1S63. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — I have just written to the Department 
(dispatch 119) about the Quaker City. 

I have now to call the attention of the Depart- 
ment to other vessels of my squadron. The Uncas 
is broken down almost entirely ; the Norwich very little 
better. These two vessels are blockading in St. John's 
river, and I have none to relieve them. 

The condition of the Mohawk, stationed at Fer- 
nandina, has already been communicated to the Depart- 
ment. The Madgie is here now for repairs, which can 
only be temporary. The Potomska is entirely broken 
down, and several of the regular gunboats require 
overhauling; but I cannot spare them from their 
stations for this object. 

I mention these details in order that the Depart- 
ment may be informed of the true condition of things 
here, and, if possible, may dispatch other vessels for 
blockading duty, or I shall be forced by circumstances 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 42/ 

to withdraw the blockading ships from some of the 
stations to the southward. 

I trust I need not add that I do not state these 
things in a spirit of complaint ; far from it. No one 
knows better than I do how unprecedented have been 
the requirements and tests on steam machinery brought 
out by this war, and the blockading service. Not to 
haul fires for seventy-five and eighty days, then only 
for two or three, to be immediately followed up by 
a repetition of long service, has never before been 
attempted. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C, March nth, 1863. 

Captain S. W. Godon, United States Ship Powhatan, 
Port Royal, S.C: 

Sir : — Enclosed you will find a medical survey 
called at the request of Surgeon Mayo. 

To carry out the recommendation of the medical 
officers, I have to detach you from the command of 
the Powhatan, and you will take passage for New 
York on the U. S. transport Arago, which leaves to - 
morrow, reporting by letter to the Honorable Secretary 
of the Navy. 

I need hardly add how much I regret the neces- 
sity which imperatively compels this course ; for I know 
the zeal and determination which you have evinced to 
serve throughout the war ; and this immediately fol- 
lowing the wear and tear of a coast of Africa cruise. 



428 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I have to thank you for your valuable services 
on this station while under my command, and for many 
months ; for your ceaseless vigilance in conducting the 
blockade of Charleston, as senior officer; a service 
which few understand, but which has been as thor- 
oughly done as the number of vessels covering it 
could accomplish, and at great hazard of losing the 
ships. In this arduous work, with the long services 
which preceded it, you have lost your health ; but I 
trust that the rest you have so fairly and honorably 
earned will restore it, and you to active service. 

I enclose a copy of my letter to the Department. 
Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March nth, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

Sir : — I herewith enclose the report of a medical 
survey held to-day on Captain S. W. Godon, of the 
Powhatan. 

He has been threatened for some time, and has 
had to yield to his physical condition, brought on by 
continuous service since October, 1859, on the coast of 
Africa, and on this station, for seventeen months, 
during the war, having been out of commission but a 
very few days, between the paying off of the Mohican 
and the fitting out of the Powhatan. 

He is an officer of high ability and great energy ; 
and showed sleepless vigilance in conducting the block- 
ade off Charleston while he was the senior officer there; 
having closed up the ships more than ever before, 
and done all that could be done with the number of 
vessels he had. This has overworked him. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 429 

Captain Godon has been detached, and goes home 
by the Arago to - morrow, with orders to report to 
the Department by letter. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Roj'al Harbor, S. C, March 13th, 1863. 

Captain T. Turner, United States Ship New Ironsides, 
off Charleston, S.C. : 

Sir : — I have to request that the blockading line 
be closed in a little more than it has generally been. 
If additional space be required for the heavy vessels 
to manoeuvre, in case the rams come out, it is the 
more necessary that the channels should be covered 
by the smaller ones, which can slip and run out with 
the information of their approach, while watching the 
blockade - runners. 

If the latter once get inside of a line that is 
well out, they have it all their own way in finding 
the channels and crossing the bars ; whereas, when 
the vessels are closer in, even if the runners evade 
them, they often get on shore and are lost, fearing 
to be reached by shot or shell. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 

P. S. — Please direct the Massachusetts to call off 
Stono and North Edisto ; if at night, order Acting 
Volunteer Lieutenant W. H. West to make signal. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



430 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March iSth, 1863. 

Captain C. O. Boutelle, Assistant Coast Survey, 
U. S. Coast Survey Steamer Bibb : 

Sir : — For reasons stated to me, you have permis- 
sion to visit the North on leave, and will, on your ar- 
rival, report to Prof. Bache, explaining to him the cir- 
cumstances. 

I trust that you will be able to return soon and 
resume your duties on the Bibb. 

I think it well, however, to add that among these 
duties I do not include your patriotic and brave offer 
of piloting me into Charleston. This will not be in- 
dispensable, and it in no manner pertains to your 
duties. I need not add, however, how much I appre- 
ciate your volunteering on the occasion for such per- 
ilous service. You may, however, in other ways render 
me valuable service. 

Respectfully, 

S. F, Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



(Private). 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March 20th, 1863. 

Major - General D. Hunter, Commanding Department 
of the South : 

My Dear General : — I thank you much for the 
perusal of Captain Kinsie's letter. It confirms what we 
had been told before of the rather helpless condition 
of the Georgia. I cannot, however, withdraw the moni- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 43 I 

tors from their repairs and preparations for so much 
more important work than her destruction. If I could 
get at the Fingal, it would be much more tempting, 
for I think Tatnall will try Port Royal, from what I 
hear, as soon as you and I leave it, and I sometimes 
think the forts ought to have had traverses. I believe, 
however, the Wabash will be a great bulwark. 

I think, too, that the colonel at Pulaski will have 
to be on the lookout. 

Thanks for the Savannah paper. I got much in- 
teresting information from the deserters, and have tabu- 
lated it for easy reference. So soon as I can get it 
copied I will send it to you. 

I am detaining the Conemaugh for the expedition 
you spoke of 

I am. General, yours most truly, 

S. F. Du Pont. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March 22d, 1863. 

Lieutenant P. Brodie, Acting Signal Officer, 
Flag Ship Wabash : 

Sir : — Understanding that you have been detached 
from your duties as signal officer on board this ship, 
I desire to express my commendation of your services 
during the time you have been on the Wabash, and, 
particularly, for the instruction which you have given 
to my officers. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



432 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March 26th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform the Depart- 
ment that I have appointed Robert Piatt, at present 
executive officer of the United States Coast Survey- 
steamer Bibb, acting ensign in the United States Navy 
from the first of March, this being the highest appoint- 
ment I can confer. 

I would, however, recommend that the Department 
should give him the appointment of acting master 
from the same date. Mr. Piatt has been of great 
service in the squadron ; is an educated and thorough 
seaman ; and is, moreover, to pilot the fleet into 
Charleston harbor, as I have reason to believe that 
his knowledge of the channels exceeds that of any of 
the few pilots we have here, and for which perilous 
service he has patriotically volunteered. 

I may add that there are two other pilots in the 
squadron holding the positions of acting masters, which 
is a further reason for making the appointment. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March 27th, 1S63. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 

Sir: — I have the honor to acknowledge the De- 
partment's dispatch of the 17th inst. in relation to the 
mess expenses of persons taken on prizes, and pris- 
oners. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 433 

Previous to its receipt, several instances had oc- 
curred where passengers and others taken in prizes 
had been put by commanding officers of vessels in 
other messes than the ward-room. 

The parties were cheerfully received, but on pay- 
ment of their mess bills being demanded, the com- 
manding officers found that they were not authorized 
to order the paymaster to settle, and therefore paid 
the same out of their own means. 

This coming to my knowledge, I issued an order 
to the paymaster of the Vermont in one case, and 
to the paymaster of this ship in another, to pay the 
same, preferring, in case of the Department's refusing 
to ratify the orders, to have the amounts charged to 
myself 

I do not think that the Department is fully aware 
of the difficulties in these cases, and how almost im- 
possible it is to put certain parties, either prisoners or 
taken on prizes, on the berth-deck to mess with the 
crews ; and if placed in the steerage, engineer's, or for- 
ward officers' mess, it does not meet the point to 
order a ration, as this neither satisfies the parties receiv- 
ing the ration, nor does it compensate the mess, 

I submit that some general rule, liable to certain 
modifications by the commanding officer of the squad- 
ron, to meet peculiar cases, should be adopted. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. DuPoNT, 

Rear Admiral. 



28 



434 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, March 30th, 1863. 

Commander William Revnolds, United States Ship 
Vermont, Port Royal : 

Sir : — I have received your communication of the 
25th inst., asking earnestly to accompany the expedi- 
tion against Charleston, if your services are not needed 
on the Vermont. 

I appreciate fully your officer -like and patriotic 
desire to volunteer for the service ; and having deter- 
mined to leave the Wabash, Commander Corbin, and 
ordered Captain Steedman to Port Royal, I am grati- 
fied in being able to grant your request. 

So soon as the Vermont is placed on the other 
side, and you have given such instructions to Acting 
Master Grozier as may be of service to him, you can 
proceed off Charleston. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April ist, 1863. 

Captain Charles Steedman, United States Ship Paul Jones, 
Senior Officer, Port Royal : 

Sir : — I have been called upon by the military 
authorities to give protection to Hilton Head Island, 
and the surrounding waters and possessions, in my 
absence. 

The Wabash and Vermont will move over to the 
Hilton Head side of the harbor for the above purpose. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 435 

The Sebago will be stationed in Calibogue Sound, to 
prevent access to the island from that direction. The 
Madgie, not yet repaired, will remain in Station creek 
for protection to the machine shop. 

The Marblehead is ordered up, and, with the Hale, 
will add to the force left in this harbor for passing 
exigencies. 

You will be the senior officer present, and will 
have control and direction of the naval force. 

I would recommend your occasionally moving 
about in the contiguous waters, with your own vessel, 
the Marblehead, and the E. B. Hale, to impress the 
enemy with the idea that they are watched, and havitjg 
an eye on the security of Beaufort. 

I will endeavor, with the army, to keep up a daily 
communication with Port Royal ; it running one boat, 
and I detailing the Flambeau, or other vessel. 

I have some hopes you may be in to-night, that 
I may have the pleasure of seeing you and speaking 
on these matters, but I rely upon your long experi- 
ence on this station, and your zeal, to meet all 
emergencies. 

I leave early in the morning. 

I have given Commander Reynolds permission to 
go off Charleston. The Vermont cannot do much, but 
it would be well for you to see to her a little, as 
she is left under an acting master. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



436 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 



Flag Ship James Adger, 
North Edisto, S. C, April 2d, 1863. 

Commander T. Turner, United States Ship New Ironsides, 
off Charleston: 

Sir: — In compliance with your request to have 
an experienced officer added to your complement, I 
have detached Lieutenant Commander Barnes from the 
Dawn, and ordered him to report to you for duty. 

You will please send the South Carolina down to 
her station at this place, where she will be much 
needed. 

Commander Rhind is charged with buoying the 
channel, and goes with the Keokuk and Bibb for this 
purpose. You will please give him such assistance as 
you can, and detail a vessel to be anchored, which he 
will require for a stern range. 

We are deficient in vessels to tow up the iron- 
clads from here, and you will send down the Augusta 
and Memphis for this purpose. 

I shall move up as soon as the weather will 
permit. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 437 

Flag Ship James Adger, 
North Edisto, S. C, April 3d, 1863. 

Lieutenant Commander W. Gibson, United States Ship Seneca, 
North Edisto, South Carolina : 

Sir : — In my official dispatch to the Department 
referring to the destruction of the Nashville, I have 
not refrained from doing full justice to the officers 
and crews of the gunboats, who, for so long a period, 
by their great watchfulness, prevented this rebel vessel 
from proceeding to sea. 

It gives me great pleasure however to express to 
you, and through you to the officers and crew of the 
Seneca, my high appreciation of their vigilance in 
maintaining the blockade of the Nashville, and their 
gallantry in aiding in her destruction. 

You will please read this letter at muster. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Order of battle and plan of attack upon Charleston, S. C. 

Flag Ship James Adger, 

North Edisto, April 4th, 1863. 

The bar will be buoyed by the Keokuk, Com- 
mander Rhind, assisted by C. O. Boutelle, Assistant 
U. S. Coast Survey, commanding the Bibb, by Acting 
Ensign Piatt, and the pilots of the squadron. 

The commanding officers will, previous to crossing, 
make themselves acquainted with the value of the 
buoys. 

The vessels will, on signal being made, form in 



438 O/f'JLlAL DISPATCHES OF 

the prescribed order ahead, at intervals of one cable's 
length. 

The squadron will pass up the main ship channel 
without returning the fire of the batteries on Morris 
Island, unless signal should be made to commence 
action. 

The ships will open fire on Fort Sumter when 
within easy range ; and will take up a position to the 
northward and westward of that fortification, engaging 
its left or northeast face, at a distance of from 600 
to 800 yards, firing low, and aiming at the centre 
embrasure. 

The commanding officers will instruct their officers 
and men to carefully avoid wasting a shot ; and will 
enjoin upon them the necessity of precision rather than 
rapidity of fire. 

Each ship will be prepared to render every assist- 
ance possible to vessels that may require it. 

The special code of signals prepared for the iron- 
clad vessels will be used in action. 

After the reduction of Fort Sumter, it is probable 
that the next point of attack will be the batteries on 
Morris Island. 

The order of battle will be the line ahead, in the 
following succession : 

1st. — Weehawken, with raft. 

2d. — Passaic. 

3d. — Montauk. 

4th. — Patapsco. 

5th. — New Ironsides. 

6th. — Catskill. 

7th. — Nantucket. 

8th. — Nahant. 

Qtli. — Keokuk. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 439 

A squadron of reserve, of which Captain J. F. 
Green will be the senior officer, will be formed opt- 
side the bar, and near the entrance buoy, consisting of 
the following vessels : 

Canandaigua, Unadilla, 

Housatonic, Wissahickon, 

Huron, 
And will be held in readiness to support the 
iron-clads when they attack the batteries on Morris 
Island. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 

Copies of the above fur7iished to all the iron-clads, 
a7id to Captain Green for the outside squadron. 



Flag Ship New Ironsides, 
Inside Charleston Bar, S. C, April 8th, 1863. 

Major- General D. Hunter, Commanding Department 
of the South: 

General : — The iron-clads weighed anchor yester- 
day at noon to go forward to attack Fort Sumter, 
but were delayed for nearly two hours by the acci- 
dent which fouled the anchor and raft of the leading 
vessel, the Weehawken. 

The Ironsides became unmanageable in the narrow 
channel, and occasioned further delay under fire, so 
that, finding that I should not reach the obstruction 
before five o'clock, I ordered the vessels withdrawn 
from action, with the intention of renewing it this 
morning. 

During the night I have received the statements 
of the commanding officers, and find the ships so much 



440 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

damaged during their engagement as to force me to 
the conviction that they cannot endure the fire to 
which they would be exposed, long enough to destroy 
Fort Sumter, or reach Charleston. 

I am now satisfied that that place cannot be taken 
by a purely naval attack, and I am admonished by 
the condition of these vessels that a persistence in our 
efforts would end in disaster, and might cause us to 
leave some of our iron-clads in the hands of the 
enemy, which would render it difficult for us to hold 
those parts of the coast which are now in our pos- 
session. I have therefore determined to withdraw my 
vessels, and have written to the Navy Department to 
that effect. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship New Ironsides, 
Inside Charleston Bar. S. C, April 8th, 1863. 

Major -General D. Hunter, Commanding Department 
of the South : 

General: — I am this moment in receipt of your 
most gratifying letter of this date.* 

I did not, however, require it to satisfy me of 
your deep sympathy in our operations of yesterday, 
intensified by the fact that circumstances beyond your 
control prevented that which of all things you would 
most have desired, an immediate and active co-opera- 
tion. 

* General Hunter's letter of April 8th, 1863, will be found in the 
loth volume of the work entitled, "War of the Rebellion; Official 
Records of the Union and Confederate Armies." 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 44 1 

I shall have your letter read on every iron-clad 
of this fleet, so that every officer and man under my 
command may know, what has long been familiar to 
me, the heartfelt sympathy of the Commanding Gen- 
eral and of the army of the Department of the South. 

With the highest respect, I am, General, your most 
obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship New Ironsides, 
Inside Charleston Bar, S. C, April 8th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — I yesterday moved up with eight iron-clads 
and this ship, and attacked Fort Sumter, intending to 
pass it, and commence action on its northwest face, in 
accordance with my order of battle. 

The heavy fire we received from it and Fort 
Moultrie, and the nature of the obstructions, compelled 
the attack from the outside. It was fierce and obsti- 
nate, and the gallantry of the officers and men was 
conspicuous. 

This vessel could not be brought into such close 
action as I endeavored to get her. Owing to the nar- 
row channel and rapid current, she became partly un- 
manageable. I was twice forced to anchor to prevent 
her going ashore ; once, owing to her having come 
into collision with two of the monitors. She could 
not get nearer than one thousand yards. 

Owing to the condition of the tide, and an un- 
avoidable accident, I had been compelled to delay ac- 



442 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

tion until late in the afternoon ; and toward evening, 
finding no impression made upon the fort, I made the 
signal to withdraw the ships, intending to renew the 
attack this morning. But the commanders of the moni- 
tors came on board, and reported verbally the injuries to 
their vessels ; when, without hesitation or consultation, for 
I never hold councils of war, I determined not to renew 
the attack, for in my judgment it would have con- 
verted a failure into a disaster. I will only add that 
Charleston cannot be taken by a purely naval attack, 
and the army could give me no co-operation. Had I 
succeeded in entering the harbor, I should have had 
twelve hundred men and thirty-two guns; but five of 
the iron-clads were wholly or partially disabled after 
a brief engagement. 

The reports of the commanding officers will be 
forwarded with my detailed report, and I send Com- 
mander Rhind home with this dispatch, whose vessel 
sank this morning from the effects of the bombard- 
ment yesterday, and who will give the Department 
the information it may desire. 

I have alluded above only to Forts Sumter and 
Moultrie, but the vessels were also exposed to the 
fire of the batteries on Cumming's Point, Mount Plea- 
sant, the Redan, and Fort Beauregard. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 

P. S. — Enclosed are the reports of the casualties 
on the Keokuk and Nahant (marked No. i and 2). 

S. F. D. P., 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 443 

Flag Ship New Ironsides, 
Inside Charleston Bar, S. C, April 8th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report to the Depart- 
ment that I have ordered Commander A. C. Rhind 
to the command of the Paul Jones, relieving Captain 
C. Steedman, whom I have ordered to the Powhatan. 

Commander Rhind having lost all his effects by 
the sinking of the Keokuk, I have ordered him to 
proceed to Washington with my dispatches, that he 
may have an opportunity to procure a new outfit ; 
thinking also that the Department might desire to see 
an officer engaged in the attack on the forts here. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship New Ironsides, 
Off Charleston, S. C, April nth, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — I have the honor to acknowledge your dis- 
patch of April 2d, 1863, marked confidential, and will 
make every effort to dispatch immediately five iron- 
clads to New Orleans. 

The Department has already been informed of the 
loss of the Keokuk. I will retain, in obedience to its 
order, two, the Passaic and Montauk, these being the 
most injured and the weakest, and their fifteen - inch 
guns having been much more frequently fired than 
those of the others. 



444 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I did not understand that the Department in- 
cluded the New Ironsides in its order; and our failure 
to take Charleston renders it, in my judgment, abso- 
lutely necessary that she should resume her station 
off Charleston as the great protective force of the 
blockading vessels against raids from the rebel rams, 
now increased, I have reason to believe, to three ; and 
I can assure the Department, from my recent expe- 
rience, that she would be wholly unmanageable in the 
rapid currents of the Mississippi. 

Respectfully, 

S. F, Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



(Confidential). 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 13th, 1863. 

Captain John Rodgers, United States Ship 
Weehavvken, Port Roj'al, S. C. : 

Sir: — You will please prepare the United States 
iron-clad Weehawken, under your command, for service 
in the Gulf of Mexico, and will report to me so soon 
as you are ready to leave this harbor, when more spe- 
cific orders will be given. 

A steamer to tow you will be got ready. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear .Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 445 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 13th, 1863. 

Captain J. L. Worden, United States Ship Montauk, 
Port Royal, S. C. : 

Sir : — Notwithstanding your energetic and devoted 
service in this squadron since you joined it, closing 
with your gallant attack, under my own eye, on the 
six forts defending the entrance of Charleston harbor, 
on the 7th inst., I have been painfully struck with 
the condition of your health, and deeply impressed by 
the zeal and patriotism which induced you, so soon, to 
disregard it, and come out in the command of an 
iron-clad. 

So satisfied I am of its precarious condition, and 
your own statement in reference to it, that I do not 
deem it necessary, under the circumstances, to order a 
medical survey, unless you prefer it. 

You will therefore consider yourself detached 
from the Montauk, and will take passage in the trans- 
port steamer Cahawba, reporting yourself on your ar- 
rival, either by letter or in person, to the Honorable 
Secretary of the Navy. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 17th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — Owing to the continued ill health of Cap- 
tain John L. Worden, of the Montauk, I have detached 
him from that vessel, and permitted him to proceed 



446 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES 0I< 

north in the army transport Cahawba ; ordering him, 
on his arrival, to report either in person or by letter 
to the Department. 

The services of this gallant officer are too well 
known to the Department to require any further en- 
dorsement from me. I need only add that in the late 
engagement with the forts in Charleston harbor he 
displayed his well-known zeal and bravery. I did not 
deem it necessary, in his case, to call for a medical 
survey, for reasons expressed in my letter to him, and 
which I am sure the Department appreciates. 

I have detached Commander Fairfax from the 
Nantucket and ordered him to the command of the 
Montauk ; and Lieutenant Commander Newman, of the 
Weehawken, the senior executive officer of the iron- 
clads, to the command of the Nantucket. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, B.C., April 17th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — If the Department can send me one or 
more steamers to tow the iron-clads to the Gulf, or to 
replace those which I may have to take from the 
blockading force, it will be very desirable. 

I have lost the services of so many vessels already 
by breaking down, that the blockade will be very 
much weakened. The Ottawa, Quaker City, Water 
Witch, Cimerone, and Mercedita are now at the North. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 44/ 

The Florida and the Bienville have been detached. The 
Memphis and VVissahickon both go North for repairs, 
and the Mohawk, Seneca, Marblehead, and Potomska 
are represented as unfit for service, and the Keystone 
State can do no outside work. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 14th, 1863. 

Acting Master R. Platt, United States Ship Bibb : 

Sir : — I have the pleasure to enclose your ap- 
pointment as Acting Master in the United States Navy, 
and you will report to Captain Boutelle in that capa- 
city, and continue your present duties on the Bibb. 

I avail myself of the occasion to express my com- 
mendation of your pilotage of the Weehawken, the 
leading ship in the attack on the Charleston forts, on 
the 7th of April, under my own observation, and which 
has been alluded to by Captain John Rodgers, in the 
most favorable terms, in his official report. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



448 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Notes on the attack on Ft. Sumter, April 6th and yth, iS6j. 

At 7 a. m., went on board New Ironsides. 

At 7.10 a. m., under way. 

At 7.50 a. m., crossed bar. 

At 8.10 a. m., anchored inside the bar. All the 
iron-clads, by 9 o'clock, were at anchor inside the bar. 

At I p. m., fleet under weigh. 

At 2 p. m., anchored in order, line ahead, the 

weather being too hazy to proceed to the attack. 

Tuesday, April 7th, 1863. 

At 12 m., made preparatory signals to get under 
weigh. 

At 12.10 p. m., signal to get under weigh. 

At 12.50 p.m., Weehawken made signal, "Foul' 
anchor." 

At 1. 1 5 p. m., Weehawken made signal, " All 
clear." 

At 1.45 p. m., New Ironsides under weigh. 

At 2.10 p.m., Weehawken signaled, "Obstructions 
in my vicinity." 

At 2.15 p. m., flag ship signaled, " Slow down." 

At 2.40 p. m., flag ship signaled, " I have stopped." 

At 3.05 p. m., Forts Sumter and Moultrie began 
firing. 

At 3.15 p. m., signaled to Weehawken to begin 
action. 

At 3.25 p. m., general signal to disregard motions 
of Commander-in-Chief. 

At 3.30 p. m., anchored in 3 fathoms, and imme- 
diately hove up again ; port shutter of No. 5 gun shot 
away. 

At 4.05 p. m., signaled to iron-clads to give flag 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 449 

ship more room ; immediately after, Catskill and Nan- 
tucket collided with us. 

At 4.20 p. m., fired a broadside at Moultrie. 

At 4.25 p. m., made signal to follow motions of 
Commander - in - Chief 

At 4.30 p. m., signaled to withdraw from action. 

At 4.35 p. m., Ironsides came to anchor in 17 
feet water. 

At 5 p. m., hove up and fell back to near the old 
anchoraee. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 15th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — In my previous dispatch of April 8th, I gave 
a brief account of the attack on Fort Sumter on the 
afternoon of the 7th inst., and I have now the honor 
to present to the Department a more detailed report. 

On the morning of the 2d inst. I left Port Royal 
for North Edisto, hoisting my flag on the United States 
ship James Adger, Commander Patterson, and crossed 
the bar the same day. 

As there was some reason to believe that on the 
departure of the iron-clads from Port Royal there might 
be an attempt to commit a raid by the Atlanta and 
other rams at Savannah, and as the army was appre- 
hensive of an attack on their positions at Hilton Head 
and Beaufort, I had ordered Captain Steedman to Port 
Royal with his vessel, the Paul Jones, having pre- 
viously directed the Wabash, Commander Corbin, and 
29 



450 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Vermont, Commander Reynolds, to be hauled over to 
the Hilton Head shore to protect the vast amount of 
public property there. The Sebago was also stationed 
in Calibogue Sound, the Marblehead in Sav^annah river, 
and the E. B. Hale in Broad river; whilst the Paul 
Jones, owing to her light draft, was also to make 
frequent reconnoissances up the latter stream and the 
Beaufort river. 

On the 5th inst., having provided steamers to tow 
the iron-clads, I left North Edisto for Charleston, with 
all the vessels intended to participate in the attack on 
that place, and arrived there in the afternoon. In ac- 
cordance with my previous arrangements, the Keokuk, 
Commander Rhind, aided by Captain Boutelle of the 
United States Coast Survey, and Acting Master Piatt, 
with Pilot Godfrey and others, proceeded at once to 
buoy the bar, and to report the depth of water which 
could be availed of in crossing the next morning 
with the New Ironsides. 

The Patapsco, Commander Am men, and the Cats- 
kill, Commander George W. Rodgers, covered the Keokuk 
during this operation, and afterwards anchored inside 
of the bar, that same evening, in order to protect the 
buoys. 

On the morning of the 6th I crossed the bar 
with the New Ironsides, Commodore Turner, and the 
rest of the iron-clads, viz. : Passaic, Captain Drayton, 
Weehawken, Captain John Rodgers, Montauk, Captain 
John L. Worden, Patapsco, Commander Daniel Ammen, 
Catskill, Commander George W, Rodgers, Nantucket, 
Commander Fairfax, Nahant, Commander Downes, and 
the Keokuk, Commander Rhind, intending to proceed 
the same day to the attack of Fort Sumter, and thence 
to the city of Charleston ; but, after reaching an anchor- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 45 I 

age inside, the weather became so hazy, preventing 
our seeing the ranges, that the pilots decHned to go 
further. 

I herewith enclose (marked No. i) the order of 
battle, and plan of attack, in which the Weehawken, 
Captain John Rodgers, with a raft in front, was to be 
the leading vessel of the line, and the Keokuk, Com- 
mander Rhind, was to be the last ; the New Ironsides 
being in the centre, from which signals could be bet- 
ter made to both ends of the line. 

On the following day, April 7th, at noon, this 
being the earliest hour at which, owing to the state 
of the tide, the pilots would consent to move, I made 
signal to the vessels to weigh anchor ; having pre- 
viously ordered them not to reply to the batteries on 
Morris Island, but to reserve their fire until they could 
pass Fort Sumter, in case there were no obstructions, 
and attack its northwest face. 

The chain of the Weehawken, the leading vessel, 
had, however, become entangled in the grapnels of the 
pioneer raft, and the vessels were delayed in moving 
until about fifteen minutes past one, when, everything 
being clear, the Weehawken moved on, followed by 
the Passaic and others, in the regular order of battle. 

On the way up, the leading vessel passed a num- 
ber of buoys strewed about in every direction, causing 
a suspicion of torpedoes, one of which burst near the 
Weehawken, without, however, producing serious injury. 

At ten minutes past two the Weehawken, the 
leading vessel, signaled obstructions in her vicinity, and 
soon after approached very close to them. They ex- 
tended across the harbor from Fort Moultrie to Fort 
Sumter, and were marked by rows of casks, very near 
together, and in several lines. Beyond these again. 



452 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

piles were seen extending from James' Island to the 
middle ground. 

At 2.50 the guns of Fort Moultrie opened upon 
the Weehawken, followed shortly after by all the bat- 
teries on Sullivan's Island, Morris Island, and Fort 
Sumter. 

Not being able to pass the obstructions, the Wee- 
hawken, and successively the Patapsco, Nahant, and 
others, were obliged to turn, which threw the line into 
some confusion as the other vessels approached. This 
was particularly the case with the flag ship, which 
became in a measure entangled with the monitors, 
and could not bring her battery to bear upon Fort 
Sumter without great risk of firing into them. She 
was obliged, on her way up, to anchor twice to pre- 
vent her going ashore ; and on one of these oc- 
casions, in consequence of having come into collision 
with two of the iron-clads. 

The monitors and the Keokuk were able to get 
within easy range of Fort Sumter, at distances vaiying 
from 550 to 800 yards, in which positions they were 
subjected, successively, to a tremendous concentrated fire 
from all the batteries on Sullivan's Island, IMorris Island, 
Sumter, and others of the most formidable kind, and 
and from guns of the heaviest calibre. 

Not being able to place the New Ironsides where 
I desired, though she was within a distance of one 
thousand yards, and evening approaching, at 4.30 I 
made signal to withdraw from action, intending to re- 
new the attack the next morning. 

During the evening the commanding officers of the 
iron-clads came on board the flag ship, and, to my 
regret, I soon became convinced of the utter impracti- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 453 

cability of taking the city of Charleston by the force 
under my command. 

No ship had been exposed to the severest fire of the 
enemy over forty minutes, and yet, in that brief period, 
as the Department will perceive by the detailed reports 
of the commanding officers, five of the iron-clads were 
wholly or partially disabled ; disabled too, as the ob- 
structions could not be passed, in that which was most 
essential to our success, I mean in their armament, or 
power of inflicting injury by their guns. 

Commander Rhind, with the Keokuk, had only 
been able to fire three times during the short period 
he was exposed to the guns of the enemy, and was 
obliged to withdraw from action to prevent his vessel 
from sinking, which event occurred on the following 
morning. 

The Nahant, Commander Downes, was most seri- 
ously damaged, her turret being so jammed as effect- 
ually to prevent its turning. Many of the bolts of 
both turret and pilot-house were broken, and the latter 
became nearly untenable in consequence of the iitits 
and ep.ds flying across it. 

Captain P. Drayton, in the Passaic, after the fourth 
fire from the eleven-inch gun, was unable to use it 
again during the action, and his turret also became 
jammed, though he was after some delay enabled to 
get it in motion again. Commander Ammen, of the 
' Patapsco, lost the use of his rifled gun after the fifth 
fire, owing to the carrying away of the forward cap- 
square bolts. 

On the Nantucket, Commander Fairfax reports that 
after the third shot from the fifteen-inch gun, the port 
stopper became jammed, several shot striking very near 



454 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

the port and driving in the plates, preventing the further 
use of that gun during the action. 

The other iron-clads, though struck many times 
severely, were still able to use their guns; but I am 
convinced that, in all probability, in another thirty 
minutes they would have been likewise disabled. 

In the detailed reports, herewith forwarded, from 
the commanding officers of all the vessels engaged 
excepting that of the New Ironsides, not yet received 
(respectively marked Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), the 
Department will be fully informed of the character 
and extent of the injuries received by these vessels, 
to which I have only partially referred. 

I also forward, herewith, a statement in tabular 
form (marked No. 10), drawn up by the ordnance 
officer, Lieutenant Mackenzie; by which, among other 
things, it appears that only 139 shot and shell were 
fired by our vessels, though during that same period 
the enemy poured upon us an incessant storm of 
round shot and shell, rifled projectiles of all descrip- 
tions, and red-hot shot. 

Any attempt to pass through the obstructions I 
have referred to would have entangled the vessels and 
held them under the most severe fire of heavy ord- 
nance that has ever been delivered ; and, while it is 
barely possible that some vessels might have forced 
their way through, it would only have been to be 
again impeded by fresh and more formidable obstruc- 
tions, and to encounter other powerful batteries, with 
which the whole harbor of Charleston has been lined. 

I had hoped that the endurance of the iron-clads 
would have enabled them to have borne any weight 
of fire to which they might have been exposed; but 
when I found that so large a portion of them were 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 455 

wholly or one-half disabled, by less than an hour's 
engagement, before attempting to remove (overcome) 
the obstructions, or testing the power of the torpedoes, 
I was convinced that a persistence in the attack would 
only result in the loss of a greater portion of the 
iron-clad fleet, and in leaving many of them inside the 
harbor to fall into the hands of the enemy. 

The slowness of our fire, and our inability to oc- 
cupy any battery that we might silence, or to prevent 
its being restored under cover of night, were difficul- 
ties of the gravest character; and until the outer forts 
should have been taken, the army could not enter the 
harbor nor afford me any assistance. 

The want of success will not, however, prevent me 
from bringing to the notice of the Department the 
gallant officers and men who took part in this des- 
perate conflict. 

Commodore Turner, of the New Ironsides, Captain 
Drayton, of the Passaic, Captain John Rodgers, of the 
Weehawken, Captain J. L. Worden, of the Montauk, 
Commander Ammen, of the Patapsco, Commander 
George W. Rodgers, of the Catskill, Commander Fair- 
fax, of the Nantucket, Commander Downes, of the 
Nahant, and Commander Rhind, of the Keokuk, did 
everything that the utmost gallantry and skill could 
accomplish in the management of their untried vessels. 
These commanding officers have long been known to 
me ; many of them served in this squadron before, 
and were present at the capture of the Port Royal 
forts ; they are men of the highest professional capa- 
city and courage, and fully sustained their reputations, 
coming up to my requirements. I commend them and 
their reports, which speak of those under them, to the 
consideration of the Department. 



456 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I took my personal staff with me to the New 
Ironsides. On this, as on all other occasions, I had 
invaluable assistance from the fleet captain, Commander 
C. R. P. Rodgers, who was with me in the pilot-house 
directing the movements of the squadron. For now 
over eighteen months in this war, this officer has been 
afloat with me, and, in my opinion, no language could 
overstate his services to his country, to his fleet, and 
to myself, as his Commander-in-Chief 

Lieutenant S. W. Preston, my flag lieutenant, who 
has also been with me for the same period, exhibited 
his usual vigilance and zeal, and with that ability 
which is so far beyond his years, he arranged a spe- 
cial code of signals, which was used, and served on 
the gun deck battery of the New Ironsides. 

My aid. Ensign M. L. Johnson, full of spirit and 
energy, made the signals under difficult circumstances, 
and kept an accurate note of all that were made to 
and from the fleet. 

Lieutenant A. S. Mackenzie, the ordnance officer 
of the squadron, had been preparing his department 
of the expedition with ceaseless labor, care, and intel- 
ligence. He served also on the gun deck of the 
New Ironsides. 

The reserved squadron of wooden vessels, referred 
to in my general order of battle, under captain J. F. 
Green, of the Canandaigua, were always in readiness, 
but its services in the engagement were not called into 
action. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DUPONT. 45/ 

P. S. — Since the above was written, the report of 
Commander Turner, of the New Ironsides, has been 
received, and is herewith enclosed (marked No. ii). 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 17th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I am sending the Ericsson, she not being 
required here at this moment, to New York, where 
she may get rid of her deck load of bombs, which, 
after our experience here, cannot be used except in 
perfectly smooth water; this was tested in attempting 
to use them to destroy the Keokuk. 

Should the iron-clads have to go South, we shall 
be much in want of steamers to tow them, and if the 
Department should decide upon this, the Ericsson can 
be sent South again. Her great draft excludes her 
from all the ports on this coast, except Port Royal. 

I have directed Captain Lowber to report to Rear 
Admiral Gregory. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F". Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



458 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April i6th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt, this morning, by the Freeborn, of your commu- 
nication of the nth inst., directing the maintaining of 
a large force off Charleston, to menace the rebels, and 
keep them in apprehension of a renewed attack, in 
the event of our repulse. 

I have also to acknowledge the receipt of a copy 
of a telegraphic dispatch, of the 13th inst., from Fort- 
ress Monroe, from the President of the United States. 

The Department will probably have known, on the 
1 2th inst., the results of the attack. In my dispatch 
of the I ith inst, dated off Charleston, the Department 
was made aware of my withdrawal, with the iron-clads, 
from the very insecure anchorage inside the bar, and 
just in time to save the monitors from an easterly 
gale, in which, in my opinion and that of their com- 
manders, they would have been in great peril of being 
lost on Morris Island beach. Their ground tackling 
has been found to be insufficient, and they have from 
time to time dragged, even in close harbor. 

I have since been doing all in my power to push 
forward their repairs, in order to send them to the 
Gulf, as directed ; but I presume that your dispatch 
of the nth, and the telegraphic message from the 
President, revoke your previous order. 

I shall spare no exertions in repairing as soon 
as possible the serious injuries sustained by the moni- 
tors in the late attack ; and shall get them inside 
Charleston bar with all dispatch, in accordance with 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 459 

the order of the President. I think it my duty, how- 
ever, to state to the Department that this will be at- 
tended with great risk to these vessels from the gales 
which prevail at this season, and from the continuous 
fire of the enemy's batteries, which they can neither 
silence, nor prevent the erection of new ones. 

The New Ironsides can only cross the bar with 
certainty at spring tides, which are twice a month. 
She is more vulnerable than the monitors, and at the 
distance she must necessarily anchor could not elevate 
her guns sufficiently to reach any batteries of the 
enemy, while at the same time she would be liable to 
injury, particularly in her wooden ends, from a fire 
which she could not return. If this vessel is with- 
drawn from the blockade, and placed inside, the block- 
ade may be raised by the rebel rams coming out of 
Charleston harbor, at night, by Maffitt's channel ; in 
which case she could give no assistance to the fleet 
outside. But for the New Ironsides, the raid of the 
31st of January would have been repeated with more 
serious effect. 

The lower and greater part of Morris Island ex- 
hibits a ridge or row of sand-hills, affording to the 
enemy a natural parapet against the fire of shipping, 
and facilities for erecting batteries in very strong posi- 
tions. The upper part of the island is crossed by 
Fort Wagner, a work of great strength, and covered 
by the guns of Fort Sumter. The island is in free 
communication with Charleston, and can, in spite of 
us, draw fresh reinforcements as rapidly as they may 
be required. Shoals extend from the island, which 
prevent the near approach of the monitors ; and our 
experience at Fort McAllister does not encourage me 
to expect that they will reduce well - defended sand 



460 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

batteries, where the damage inflicted by day is readily 
repaired by the unstinted labors of the night. 

The ships, therefore, can neither cover the land- 
ing, nor afterwards protect the advance, of the small 
force of the army available for operations in this quar- 
ter, which will meet fresh troops at every sand-hill, 
and may look also for a reverse fire from the bat- 
teries on James' Island. 

As it is considered necessary to menace Charles- 
ton by a demonstration of land and naval forces, 
North Edisto will afford a better point from which to 
threaten an advance ; and a concentration of troops 
and ships in that quarter would accomplish the pur- 
pose of the Government mentioned in your dispatch 
of the the nth inst. ; and it is a military point from 
which Charleston could be attacked now, James Island 
being fully occupied by the enemy's batteries. 

I have deemed it proper and due to myself to 
make these statements, but I trust I need not add that 
I will obey all orders with the utmost fidelity, even 
when my judgment is entirely at variance with them, 
such as the order to re-occupy the unsafe anchorage 
for the iron-clads off Morris Island, and an intimation 
that a renewal of the attack on Charleston may be 
ordered, which, in my judgment, would be attended 
with disastrous results, involving the loss of this coast. 

For eighteen months, in these waters, I have given 
whatever of professional knowledge, energy, and zeal I 
possess to the discharge of my duties, and to the close 
study of our military and naval position in the tenure 
of the sea coast within the limits of my command, 
and I claim to know what best pertains to the dis- 
position of my fleet, in carrying out the instructions 
of the Department. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 46 1 

I know not yet whether the confidence of the 
Department, so often expressed to me, has been shaken 
by the want of success in a single measure, which I 
never advised, though intensely desirous to carry out 
the Department's orders, and justify expectations in 
which I could not share. I am, however, painfully 
struck by the tenor and tone of the President's order, 
which seems to imply a censure, and I have to re- 
quest that the Department will not hesitate to relieve 
me by any officer, who, in its opinion, is more able 
to execute that in which I have had the misfortune 
to fail, the capture of Charleston. No consideration 
for an individual officer, whatever his loyalty and 
length of service, should weigh an instant if the cause 
of his country can be advanced by his removal. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 20th, 1863. 

Captain J. Rodgers, United States Ship Weehawken : 

Sir : — I have to request that you will give me 
all the facts and circumstances attending the use of 
the Ericsson raft, which with so much zeal and energy 
you attempted to render of service, not alone in the 
attack on Charleston, but afterwards with its missiles 
to make it available in blowing up the Keokuk. 



462 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES 01 

In Other words, I should like to have embodied 
in official form the several verbal reports you have 
made to me on this subject, from time to time. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 20th, 1863. 

Lieutenant Commander L. H. Newman, United States 
Ship Nantucket : 

Sir: — I have addressed a communication to Cap- 
tain John Rodgers, requesting him to give me all the 
facts and circumstances attending the use of the 
Ericsson raft attached to the Weehavvken. 

As you were executive officer of the Weehawken 
at that time, and may have some distinct knowledge 
of your own, I desire that you will give, in an official 
form, all the information you possess on this subject. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du PoxT, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 21st, 1863. 

Captain C. O. Boutelle, Assistant Coast Survey, United 
States Coast Survey Steamer Bibb : 

My Dear Sir : — Will you do me the favor to 
state in writing what you incidentally mentioned to me 
some time back, as to the explanation made to you 
by Mr. C. C. Fulton, editor of the Baltimore Amer- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 463 

ican, in relation to his correspondence with that paper, 
while on board the United States transport Ericsson, 
particularly as to his relations with the Navy Depart- 
ment in reference thereto. 

Events have occurred which may render this in- 
formation important to me, and I should regret to mis- 
quote you, or any one else, in connection with the 
subject matter of it. 

I am yours, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 21st, 1863. 

Commodore T. Turner, United States Ship New Ironsides, 
off Charleston : 

Commodore : — I have received a copy of your 
communication of March nth, in reference to the flag 
which should be worn by an officer holding the rank 
of commodore. 

I took no official notice of that communication, 
because I was under the impression that our conver- 
sation on the subject was entirely satisfactory, and that 
it was a matter which the Department alone could 
regulate. 

As you request me to make a decision, I there- 
fore have to direct that you will hoist no broad 
pendant or insignia, as I have no authority to allow 
any deviation from emblems now authorized. 

To prevent any misunderstanding now, or in future, 
with others, I avail myself of this occasion to say that 
your authority off Charleston is in virtue of your being 



464 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

the senior officer present, and is entirely irrespective 
of your rank. A lieutenant left as senior officer has 
precisely the same authority as a commodore, captain, 
or commander. As I hear officers speak of command- 
ing a "division," I think it best to correct this offi- 
cially. 

The Department alone can divide a squadron and 
appoint an officer to its command. I have stations 
here, and of course the senior officer commands. 

I shall forward your communication to the Depart- 
ment by next mail. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

I 

Rear .•\dmiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 22d, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretarj^ of the Navj' : 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — I desire to call the attention of the De- 
partment to an article published in the Baltimore 
American, of April 15th, describing and commenting 
upon the attack by the iron-clads under my command, 
on the forts at Charleston, in terms injurious to 
myself, unjust to the officers whom I had the honor 
to lead, derogatory to the reputation of the naval ser- 
vice, and utterly false in its most important particulars. 

I should not consider it necessary or proper to 
bring this matter to the notice of the Department, but 
for two reasons, which seem to demand it. These 
reasons are, first, that the writer of the article in ques- 
tion, well known to be Mr. C. C. Fulton, of the 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 465 

Baltimore American, came here in the steamer Erics- 
son, when that vessel, chartered by the Navy Depart- 
ment, brought to this port rafts and torpedoes; and 
came, I have understood, by the sanction and with the 
permission of the Department. With this understand- 
ing I permitted Mr. Fulton to go to the Ogeechee in 
the Coast Survey steamer Bibb, Captain Boutelle, placed 
under my direction and protection by Professor Bache, 
superintendent of the Coast Survey. As the time came 
near for the attack upon Charleston, Mr. Fulton was 
still on board the Ericsson, from which vessel he again 
went on board the Bibb, and took up his quarters with 
Captain Boutelle. 

Secondly, I learned from Captain Boutelle, quite 
accidentally, that Mr. Fulton was under an obligation 
to send a duplicate of his correspondence to the As- 
sistant Secretary of the Navy, for his censorship, before 
it could be published. An editor and correspondent 
of an influential newspaper, domiciled with the permission 
of the Department on board a steamer under its con- 
trol, and submitting his letters to the inspection of one 
of its highest officials, is manifestly in a different posi- 
tion from ordinary correspondents of the press, and 
when a reporter thus situated writes of an action which 
he witnessed at a distance, and presumes to represent 
the sentiments of nine-tenths of the officers present, it 
becomes advisable to place upon the record of the 
Department a refutation of his calumnies. 

Although I cannot doubt, from the statements of 
Captain Boutelle, copies of whose letters on the subject 
I enclose, that Mr. Fulton had engaged to submit his 
correspondence to the revision of the Assistant Secre- 
tary of the Navy, I desire to state here, most expli- 
30 



466 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

citly, that I do not for a moment suppose he com- 
plied with that arrangement in this instance. The 
honor and the high standing of the naval service of 
the United States, as signally manifested in this war, 
as in other wars, must be as dear to the Assistant 
Secretary as to myself, and to my brother officers ; and 
it is simply impossible for me to believe that he 
should have been aware, before its publication, of the 
infamous statements contained in this letter. 

But, as Mr. Fulton avowed to Captain Eoutelle, 
and to others, that he bore this semi-official relation 
to the Department, and as the Department afforded 
him, if I have been correctly informed, the opportunity 
to be present, it seems right that I should, at least, 
deny his statements in a communication which will 
find its place upon the records of the Department. 

Mr. Fulton assumes to express the feelings of 
nine-tenths of the officers, and of all the spectators of 
the action, as to the farcical nature of the assault, and 
its disgraceful abandonment. 

One of the spectators, whose opportunities for ob- 
servation were certainly equal to those of Mr. Fulton, 
whose education as a soldier, and whose position as 
the general commanding the land forces, then await- 
ing the result of the naval attack, should entitle his 
opinions to at least equal consideration, has expressed 
his impression of the assault in terms very different 
from those employed by the editor of the Baltimore 
American. And here I am content to rest the matter 
as far as spectators are concerned. 

As to the opinions of nine-tenths of the officers 
in favor of the renewal of the attack, I have only to 
say that I am not aware of what the impressions of 
so large a portion of the squadron may be ; but, what 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 467 

is perhaps more germain to the matter, the nine cap- 
tains of the nine iron-clad vessels, and my fleet cap- 
tain, were unanimous in their conviction that the attack 
should not be renewed ; and as the evidence of ex- 
perts upon the spot is to be* preferred even to that 
of other experts remote from the scene of action, 
whose opportunities for observation are less favorable, 
I am at a loss to know how my own determination, 
not to resume the offensive, could be strengthened. 

This writer for the press makes me hold a council- 
of-war after the attack. I did not hold a council - 
of- war either before or after the attack; nor have I 
ever held a council -of- war in all my life. I did not 
desire to throw upon the gallant officers who com- 
manded the iron-clads, and who had so nobly borne 
themselves in this novel mode of warfare, any of the 
responsibility which pertained to my own station ; and 
I did not hear their opinion as to the withdrawal of 
the fleet until after I had announced my own deter- 
mination in the matter. 

My decision on the evening of the battle, after 
ascertaining the injuries received by the vessels, was 
entirely my own ; and, after further developments, upon 
a more complete examination than was then practica- 
ble, the correctness of that decision is fully confirmed. 

It was, however, most gratifying to me to find my 
own determination receive the unanimous and cordial 
support of all the commanders of the iron-clads upon 
the day after it had been announced, when they called 
upon me and expressed, in emphatic terms, their con- 
viction that a persistence in the naval attack upon 
Charleston, with the means at my disposal, could af- 
ford no hope of success, and could not fail to result 
in disaster. 



468 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

The Department selected these captains with care, 
and with a full knowledge of their high professional 
character; and I suppose that their opinion, thus coin- 
ciding with my own, and with those of my well 
tried chief of staff, will stand the test of impartial and 
intelligent criticism, even if adverse to those of the 
correspondent of the Baltimore American. 

When I made the signal to withdraw from action, 
on the evening of the 7th, the Ironsides was but 
slightly injured, though she had been under a heavy 
fire. I did not then know the condition of the moni- 
tors, and I recalled the ships only because it was too 
late to attempt further to force the obstructions that 
night. Subsequently, when I learned from the several 
captains the difficulties they had encountered, the ex- 
tent of the damage they had sustained in their hulls 
and turrets, and the fact that five out of eight of 
their vessels were, for the time, either wholly or half 
disabled as to the use of their guns, it was made 
perfectly clear to my mind that, once entangled amongst 
the obstructions, should we attempt to pass them under 
a fire so crushing as that from the forts had been, 
even the extraordinary power of endurance pertaining 
to these monitors could not sustain this fire again 
during another hour of attack. 

This corre.spondent reports that on the morning 
of the the 8th, Mr. Stimers and his workmen had put 
all the monitors in as good condition as they had 
been on the 7th, before the action ; that the turret 
of the Nahant was freed from the difficulty which had 
prevented it from revolving, and that the workmen had 
all left, at one o'clock, reporting every difficulty as to 
the working of turrets, guns, etc., fully remedied. 

The turret of the Nahant did not begin to turn 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 469 

until 5 p. m., and it was late at night before she 
could have gone into action again. Seventy-six bolts 
were driven out of her turret and pilot-house, which 
could not be replaced, and she would have been ut- 
terly disabled by a few more shot. The Weehawken 
thought her battery was in good condition ; whereas, 
it was discovered that her eleven-inch gun was dis- 
abled, and it is not yet repaired. I will only add 
here, that the side armor of the Weehawken, at the 
water's edge, was pierced through, and the wood laid 
bare ; one more blow there, and she would have gone 
down. I am having a careful drawing made of this 
fracture to send to the Department. 

The repairs that it was practicable to make at the 
time were of course slight, and temporary in their 
character. I had hoped that those made on the Passaic, 
after the Ogeechee affair, would carry her through this 
fight, but she broke down in forty minutes, in a worse 
manner than she did under her eight hours fire from 
Fort McAllister. The Nahant and Patapsco, unhurt in 
that engagement, were almost immediately crippled in 
this one. 

I visited the monitors on the iSth inst., and upon ex- 
amining into their condition myself, I found their captains 
had rather underrated the damage they had received, 
and so far from the seven vessels being in as good 
order by noon of the 8th as they had been at noon 
of the 7th, according to Mr. P'ulton, three of them 
are now, at this date, in Station creek, undergoing im- 
portant and much needed repairs. I wish I would 
get them out in as good order as they were at noon 
of the 7th. 

The writer states that the naval officers, and my- 
self, have been haunted and oppressed by the dread 



470 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

of invisible torpedoes, and of other obstructions in the 
channel ; that the fear of these ghosts prevented the 
success of the attack ; that the Navy Department had 
provided means for the removal of these torpedoes, 
and that the naval officers were afraid to use them. 

Torpedoes are not placed so as to be visible. 
The Cairo was destroyed by an invisible torpedo in 
the Western waters ; the Montauk was damaged by 
an invisible torpedo at Ogeechee ; an invisible torpedo 
exploded under or near the Weehawken, from whose 
propeller shaft 250 feet of rope, then fouled around 
it, have just been removed, and the Patapsco was 
brought up by and hung on to an invisible obstruc- 
tion for ten minutes in the focus of the storm of 
shot. To have ventured further into that labyrinth 
would have been to anchor the vessels helplessly by 
their sterns (those of them at least that escaped the 
invisible torpedoes), and thus expose them to a fire 
which they could neither endure nor effectively return, 
and, finally, to have allowed them to fall into the 
possession of the enemy. 

Imputations like these upon the judgment, the con- 
duct, and the courage of officers of high character, and 
of long standing in the service, who have been tried 
over and over again in this war, and who, in my judg- 
ment, have no superiors in the navy, coming from a 
person in a manner endorsed by the Navy Department, 
and in communication with it, have not been received 
with perfect composure. If Mr. Fulton is correct in his 
impeachment of these gentlemen, then the captains of 
the four leading monitors, whose orders were to pass 
around to the northwest side of Sumter, and gain a 
position off its inner face, failed in their duty to me, to 
the service, and to their country, luther they were un- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 47 1 

worthy of the occasion, or Mr. C. C. Fulton is guilty of 
the most inexcusable calumniation. 

One more item, and I have done. Mr. Fulton avers 
that sufficient experiments were not made with the rafts 
and torpedoes, and states they were condemned without 
examination, from a dislike to Ericsson and his naval 
innovations. I refer the Department to the letter of 
Captain John Rodgers upon the matter of the rafts and 
torpedoes, as satisfactorily disposing of the question of 
experiments, and of their use or disuse in the attack 
upon Charleston. 

As to the officers of the monitors being afraid to 
blow up the Keokuk with these appliances, Mr. Fulton 
certainly had the means for obtaining accurate informa- 
tion upon this point, from Chief Engineer Robie, who 
was likewise quartered on board the Ericsson. The 
Weehawken, Captain John Rodgers, was put at the dis- 
posal of Chief Engineer Robie for this purpose, and 
every facility given to them in my power to afford. This 
engineer, who was sent out by the Department in charge 
of the rafts and torpedoes, did not find it practicable to 
use the torpedo against the Keokuk, then lying hard 
aground, remote from other vessels, and undisturbed by 
any fire from the enemy. 

It is possible to ask too much of men at certain 
times, and under certain circumstances; and, in this in- 
stance, to have attached these rafts and torpedoes to the 
bows of the monitors, with the expectation that these 
vessels could be fought amid such a storm of shot and 
shell from the enemy, and at the same time carry on 
submarine mining operations, would, perhaps, have over- 
tasked the faculties of most persons, and, in all proba- 
bility, have "hoist the engineer with his own petard," or, 
if not him, his friends instead of his enemy. 



472 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

I now take leave of this, the most odious sub- 
ject I have ever had occasion to notice. Some other 
assertions of Mr. Fulton, which might be flatly con- 
tradicted, I have not discussed ; nor have I thought 
it worth while to consider his opinion upon purely 
professional points. To undergo the fire of the enemy, 
and the stabs of an assassin of character, at one and 
the same time, is too much for my philosophy ; and 
for my further protection against assaults of the latter 
kind I look for and expect the countenance of the 
Department. 

I make this request to the Department because 
up to the latest dates received here none of my offi- 
cial reports had been published ; while the statements 
which I have made the subject of this communication 
have been spread unanswered throughout the country. 

So far as I have seen, the tone of the press, 
generally, has been just, and in many instances gen- 
erous. The exception is the Baltimore American, 
which seems to have had its own hostile proclivities 
heightened by an association with an officer of the 
service whose name appears frequently and promi- 
nently, in its report, in connection with the repairs 
upon the iron-clads, and in relation to the torpedoes 
and the rafts. I mean Mr. A. C. Stimers, a chief 
engineer in the naval service of the United States. 
Very respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



ADMJEAL S. F. DU PONT. 473 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, April 27th, 1S63. 

Captain P. Dr.w ton, U. S. S. Passaic, Senior Officer present. 
North Edisto : 

Sir: — I should be doing injustice to my feelings 
and convictions as an officer, were I to permit you to 
leave this squadron without expressing my very high 
appreciation of your services in it, now covering a 
period of eighteen months. 

In the fierce conflict which led to the capture of 
the Port Royal forts, and in the attack on Sumter and 
the defences of Charleston, so unequal and desperate, 
you were under my own eye, and I need not add, 
on both occasions, you maintained your high reputation. 

But to these are to be added your operations in 
and occupation of St. Helena Sound ; then in the North 
Edisto, and its occupation ; your leading the small ves- 
sels of the squadron through Cumberland Sound, cap- 
turing Fernandina, and re-hoisting the flag of the Union 
on Fort Clinch ; and, afterwards, your services in the 
Stono river, as senior officer, highly important in their 
character, and especially satisfactory to me, and wherein 
you co-operated with the army, noticed with high com- 
mendation in a general order issued by the command- 
ing general of this Department. 

To this long list must be added your recent ser- 
vices on the Ogeechee. Eight hours bombardment of 
Fort McAllister, gallantly sustained, though terminating, 
as you predicted, without success, was highly creditable 
to yourself, officers, and crew. 

These are services of which any officer may be 
proud, and it gives me no ordinary gratification to 
enumerate them. 



474 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

On a recent occasion, too, you gave further evi- 
dence of that uncompromising devotion, under trying 
circumstances, which has marked your loyal and patri- 
otic course through this war. I allude to your de- 
clining the command of the Powhatan, a vessel more 
suited to your rank, when I offered her to you some 
time before the attack on Charleston, preferring to 
share the dangers of that undertaking in the iron-clad 
Passaic. 

Wishing you a safe passage, I am respectfully your 
obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May ist, 1863. 

Lieutenant Commander G. E. Belknap, United States Ship 
New Ironsides: 

Sir : — I regret extremely that it is not in my 
power to grant your request for a leave of absence, 
for it would give me pleasure to show in any way 
my appreciation of you and your services, as an of- 
ficer in this fleet, so frequently brought to my notice 
by Commodore Turner, as well as from my own ob- 
servation ; but the exigencies of the public service 
will not admit of it. 

In a few instances, when the duties of the officer 
could be fulfilled during his absence, or his services 
spared, I have assumed the authority to grant a short 
leave ; but the general orders of the Department have 
not authorized my doing this. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 475 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Tort Royal Harbor, S. C, May ist, 1S63. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — I have the honor to report the following 
positions on blockade of the vessels of this squadron : 

At Georgetown, United States ship Conemaugh. 

Off Bull's Bay, United States ship Lodona. 

Off Charleston, United States steamers New Iron- 
sides, Canandaigua, Flag, South Carolina, Augusta, Paul 
Jones, Huron, Unadilla, Wamsutta, schooners G. W. 
Blunt and America. 

In Stono, United States steamers Pawnee and Com- 
modore McDonough ; mortar schooner C. P. Williams. 

In North Edisto, United States iron clads Patap- 
sco, Nahant, Catskill, Nantucket, Montauk ; United States 
Steamers Sebago, Seneca; mortar schooners Para and 
Norfolk Packet. 

In St. Helena Sound, United States bark King- 
fisher. 

In Wassaw Sound, United States ship Cimerone. 

In Ossebaw Sound, United States ship Dawn. 

Guarding St. Catherine's, Doboy, Sapelo, and St. 
Simon's Sounds, United States steamers Keystone State, 
Potomska, Madgie ; barks Braziliera and Fernandina. 

In St. Andrew's, United States bark Midnight. 

At Fernandina, United States steamer IMohawk. 

In St. John's river, United States steamers Nor- 
wich and E. B. Hale. 

In Port Royal, flag ship Wabash; store ships, 
Vermont, Courier, and Valparaiso ; undergoing repairs 
and taking in stores, iron-clad Weehawken ; steamers 
Housatonic, Powhatan, Marblehead, Stettin, Uncas ; tugs 



476 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Daffodil, Oleander, O. M. Pettit, Columbine, Dandelion, 
and Rescue. 

The United States schooner Hope is used as a 
dispatch boat. 

The James Adger has gone to New York, hav- 
ing in tow the United States ironclad Passaic; sent 
North in obedience to orders from the Department. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. Y. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 3d, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy. 

Sir: — I herewith inclose copies of the reports 
(marked Nos. i and 2) of Commander Downes, of the 
Nahant, and his First Assistant Engineer, F. J. Lov- 
ering, an experienced officer, respecting the turret of 
that vessel. 

I also inclose (marked No. 3) a slip from the 
Baltimore American, written, there is every reason to 
believe, either by Mr. Fulton or Mr. Stimers, in 
which, among other things, it is stated " that the 
damage done to the Nahant, Passaic, and Weehaw- 
ken, the only vessels of the fleet really injured, was 
completely remedied before noon on Wednesday. The 
turret of the Nahant is represented to have been 
wedged by a shot striking it at the lower edge, 
where it comes in contact with the deck. This was 
not the case ; and it was restored to working condi- 
tion, early next morning, by Mr. P^arren, who found 
that the difficulty was in the socket of the turret, at 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 477 

the very bottom of the vessel, which had been jarred 
out of its place by a heavy concussion on the upper 
edge of the turret. In two hours he had it revolv- 
ing at the rate of one and a half minutes to the 
current." 

The Department will perceive by the reports of 
Commander Downes and Mr. Lovering, that the tur- 
ret of the Nahant is not yet in working order ; that 
as late as April 28th, with thirty pounds of steam, it 
required two minutes and forty seconds to make one 
revolution ; and when the pressure was reduced to 
twenty-three pounds the turret stopped. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C., May 4th, 1S63. 

Major- General D. Hunter, Commanding Department 
of the South : 

General : — I have delayed several days in reply- 
ing to your communication of the 29th ult., for reasons 
set forth in my private note of that date. 

In the meantime I have given the subject matter 
of your letter mature consideration, for I am anxious 
to join you in anything that will promote the ends 
in view. 

Yet, General, for the present, and until I can gain 
some more definite information as to the position of 
the enemy's floating battery Georgia, and the proba- 
bility of our being able to do it the slightest injury, 
it might not be advisable to proceed, and for the fol- 
lowing reasons : 



4/8 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

1st. That nothing but a feint or demonstration can 
be made against Savannah. 

2d. That which you and I intend merely as a 
demonstration, with a definite object to accomplish there- 
by, will be considered another repulse, or failure, by 
the rebels. 

3d. That if troops follow our iron-clads, and we do 
not land, it will be looked upon in the same light at 
the North. 

Should you see these things in the same light, I 
should prefer deferring, for the present, operations in 
that quarter. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 12th, 1S63. 

Charges and specifications of charges preferred by Rear 
Admiral Samuel F. Du Pont, conimaiiding Soutli At- 
lantic Blockading Squadron, agaifist Chief Efigineer 
Alban C. Stimers, of the United States Navy. 

Charge First. — Falsehood. 

Specification. — In this, that between the eleventh 
and fifteenth days of April, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
three, the said Alban C. Stimers, a chief engineer in 
the United States Navy, being then on board the 
steam ship Arago, by the authority and direction of 
Rear Admiral Samuel F. Du Pont, commanding the 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 479 

South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, the said Arago 
being then on her passage from Port Royal, South 
Carolina, to New York City, via Charleston bar, did, 
at the table of said steamer, in the presence of officers 
of said steamer, and other persons, a number of whom 
were correspondents of the public press, and at divers 
other times during the passage of the said steamer, 
falsely assert, knowing the same to be untrue, that he 
was told by one or more of the commanders of the iron- 
clad vessels engaged in the attack upon the forts and 
batteries in Charleston harbor, on the seventh day of 
April, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, that the attack 
of that day ought to have been renewed ; and that 
they did further state to him that the said iron-clad 
vessels were in fit condition to renew it ; and the said 
Alban C. Stimers did further falsely assert, knowing the 
same to be untrue, that several of the commanders of 
the said iron-clad vessels had said to him, or in his 
presence and hearing, that they, the said commanders, 
were, after the attack aforesaid, " hot for renewing the 
engagement," or words to that effect. 

Charge Second. — Conduct iinbecoming an officer 
of the Navy. 

WITNESSES : 

Brigadier-General George H. Gordon, United States 
Army. 

Henry A. Gadsden, captain of the Arago. 

Frederic Gratageau, purser of the Arago. 

Arthur Hughes, chief engineer of the Arago. 

Fernandez, doctor of the Arago. 

I. H. Baxter, chief officer of the Arago. 

C. C. Fulton, editor and proprietor of the Baltimore 
American and Commercial Advertiser. 



480 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Colwell, of New York, builder of one of the iron- 
clads, passenger in the Arago. 

Mars, coppersmith, of New York, passenger on the 
Arago. 

Commodore Thomas Turner, United States Navy. 

Captain Percival Drayton, United States Navy. 

Captain John Rodgers, United States Navy. 

Captain John L. Worden, United States Navy. 

Commander Daniel Ammen, United States Navy. 

Commander Donald McN. Fairfax, United States 
Navy. 

Commander John Downes, United States Navy. 

Commander Alexander C. Rhind, United States 
Navy. 

Assistant Surgeon George D. Slocum, United States 
Navy. 

Acting Assistant Paymaster A. S. Poor, United 
States Navy. 

Specification. — In this, that between the eleventh 
and fifteenth days of April, eighteen hundred and 
sixty-three, the said Alban C. Stimers, a chief engineer 
in the United States Navy, being then on board the 
steamship Arago, by the authority and direction of 
Rear Admiral Samuel F. Du Pont, commanding South 
Atlantic Blockading Squadron, the said Arago being on 
her passage from Port Royal, South Carolina, to New 
York City, via Charleston bar, did, at the table of 
said steamer, in the presence of officers of the said 
steam«r, and other persons, a number of whom were 
correspondents of the public press, and at divers other 
times during the passage of the said steamer, with the 
intent to disparage and injure the professional reputa- 
tion of his superior officer. Rear Admiral Samuel F. 
Du Pont, criticise and condemn, in terms unbecoming 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 48 1 

the circumstances, and his position as an officer of 
the navy, the professional conduct of his superior of- 
ficer, Rear Admiral Samuel F. Du Pont, in the attack 
upon the forts and batteries in Charleston harbor, on 
the seventh day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
three ; and did, with the like intent, knowingly make 
false statements, using among other improper and un- 
founded expressions, words in substance as follows : 
" That the monitors were in as good condition on 
Wednesday, the eighth day of April, eighteen hundred 
and sixty-three, after they had undergone some slight 
repairs, to renew the attack, as they had been to 
commence it the day before ; that they could go into 
Charleston in spite of guns, torpedoes, and obstruc- 
tions ; and that Rear Admiral Du Pont was too much 
prejudiced against the monitors to be willing to give 
them a fair trial. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 12th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have the honor to enclose charges and 
specifications against Alban C. Stimers, a chief engineer 
in the navy of the United States, and to request the 
Department to arrest this officer, and to send him to 
this station for trial, where most of the witnesses are. 
In order to ascertain with more precision the ex- 
ent of his un-officer-like conduct, and disregard of 

31 



482 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

truth, I was compelled to wait for the arrival of the 
Arago, on her present trip. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 14th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — Acting Master W. R. Cressy, commanding 
the armed store ship Courier, has been in connection 
with this squadron since its formation, having, with the 
Vandalia, convoyed the coal fleet in October, 1861, as 
part of the expedition against Port Royal. 

Since the above period. Acting Master Cressy has 
been much under my own observation in this harbor; 
he has always been prompt in the discharge of his 
duties, kept his ship in good order, and his crew in 
proper discipline, delivering the public stores with sys- 
tem and dispatch, and has given me entire satisfaction. 

Acting Master Cressy is desirous to have the 
command of a steamer, and I do not hesitate to re- 
commend him for this position, believing him well en- 
titled to the consideration of the Department. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 483 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 24th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — I herewith inclose (marked No. i) an ap- 
plication to me, from Chief Engineer R. W. McCleery, 
for a leave of absence for a month or six weeks. 

The reasons assigned by him are very strong ; 
but I do not feel authorized, though approving his 
request, to grant him leave for the length of time 
asked for. I have therefore directed him to proceed 
North in the Massachusetts, report to the Department, 
and make his application in person. 

Chief Engineer McCleery has been most continu- 
ous in his services, not only as engineer of the Wa- 
bash, but as superintending the constant repairs re- 
quired by the different vessels of the squadron ; and 
which he has done in a manner to meet my cordial 
approbation. The hot season is beginning, and I deem 
it but just that this officer, now absent from his home 
five years, and who has been overworked here, should 
have some relaxation. 

In his absence, and until his return. First Assist- 
ant Engineer H. B. Nones, of the Powhatan, takes his 
place. 

Should the Department not be disposed to grant 
his application, Mr. McCleery may return in a supply 
vessel. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



484 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 26th, 1863. 

Major - General D. Hunter, Commanding Department 
of the South : 

General : — I have received with great pleasure 
your letter of yesterday. It would have greatly pained 
me if any misapprehension should have interrupted the 
cordial relations which have ever marked our official 
intercourse, holding as we do such important commands 
on this coast, each of which having its special difficul- 
ties, and I am also certain that you would equally have 
regretted any such circumstances. 

I enclose a copy of the only letter I have written 
to the Navy Department on the subject of the pris- 
oners in question; the reply to which, dated the 13th 
inst., and received the 21st, informs me of the paroling 
of the officers of the Isaac Smith, and directs ine to 
send the prisoners to Lieutenant Colonel Ludlow, at 
Fortress Monroe. 

I will continue to hold them on board of the 
Vermont until I can inform the Department of your 
request to hold them as hostages, and I would re- 
spectfully recommend, General, that you follow your first 
intention of writing to the President, or Secretary of 
War. 

For, as the naval prisoners on this coast, including 
the officers of the Isaac Smith and Flambeau, have now 
been exchanged, the Navy Department might have the 
intention of exchanging these men for naval prisoners 
in the West, or elsewhere. 

In the meantime, I think their presence on board the 
Vermont will have all the moral effect you can desire, 
and prevent any attempt on the part of the rebels carry- 
ing out what you and I would so quickly resent. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 485 

You will ever find me ready to co-operate in any 
duties which may pertain to us in common, and I 
especially desire to express my heartfelt sympathy in 
those delicate circumstances of your command, which 
you have so powerfully and clearly set forth in your 
interesting communication of last evening. 

Perhaps I was not sufficiently particular in explain- 
ing to you that I had no other object in reference to 
this matter of the prisoners, than to keep myself tech- 
nically right with the Navy Department. 

I have the honor to be, General, with great respect, 
your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 27th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of your letter of the 15th inst, enclosing one 
from the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, which you 
are pleased to say will show me the injustice of my 
suspicions and conclusions in regard to that gentleman. 

I beg leave most respectfully to state that in my 
communication to the Department I expressed no such 
impressions or conclusions as are attributed to me. 
On the contrary, I explicitly declared my belief that 
Mr. Fox had never seen the scandalous account of 
the action at Charleston, in the- Baltimore American, 
or authorized its publication ; but I did call the at- 
tention of the Navy Department to the fact that this 



486 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

account was published over the initials of the editor 
of the American, who was domiciled on board a 
naval transport, and had openly declared, on this station, 
that his letters to his paper were submitted to the 
censorship of the Assistant Secretary, and that he was 
authorized to suppress any portion of them to which 
he might object. Mr. Fox asserts, precisely, that in 
which I had already formally expressed my belief 

I have not troubled the Department with other 
libelous attacks which have appeared in a few journals 
of the day, and I should not have called its attention 
to that in the Baltimore American, had not its editor 
assumed to speak with the concurrence of the De- 
partment, by pretending to submit his letters to the 
revision of one of its highest officials. 

Mr. Fox states that Mr. Fulton was under no 
obligation to send his letters from this squadron to 
him, and that he has never seen the letter of which 
I complained, either in print or manuscript. It is, 
therefore, to be presumed that the letter was never 
sent to Mr. Fox, and that Mr. P^ulton's statement was 
utterly untrue, and his ostentatious exhibition of en- 
velopes with the printed address of the Assistant Sec- 
retary was only intended to give a false respectability 
to his correspondence. It was this falsely assumed 
connection of Mr. Fulton with the Navy Department 
of which I complained ; stripped of that, his libels are 
simply deserving of contempt. 

I should deeply regret having done injustice to 
Mr. Fox, with whom I have always held the most 
friendly and cordial relations ; and I therefore con- 
gratulate myself that, in calling the attention of the 
Department to Mr. Fulton's pretensions, I held the fol- 
lowing explicit language : 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 487 

"Although I cannot doubt, from the statements of Captain 
Boutelle, copies of whose letters I enclose, that Mr. Fulton had 
engaged to submit his correspondence to the revision of the As- 
sistant Secretary of the Navy, I desire to state here, most expli- 
citly, that I do not for a moment suppose that he complied with 
that arrangement in this instance. The honor and the high 
standing of the naval service of the United States, as signally 
manifested in this war, as in other wars, must be as dear to the 
Assistant Secretary as to myself, and to my brother officers ; and 
it is simply impossible for me to believe that he should have 
been aware, before its publication, of the infamous statements 
contained in this letter." 

You are also pleased to say that I am aware 
that the press of the country has been generally 
lenient and indulgent to me. You must pardon me 
for taking exception to this statement. I admit that 
the public press has been generally just and generous 
towards me ; but there can be no leniency where there 
has been no offence, and I claim to have done my 
whole duty to the country, faithfully and skillfully, 
in the attack which I made upon the defences of 
Charleston ; and, while I gratefully prize the generous 
spirit with which my countrymen have received this 
great disappointment, I ask for no leniency. The 
terms in which the Department is pleased to com- 
ment upon the expression of my regret that the of- 
ficial reports of the attack upon Charleston had not 
been published, are not gratifying to me ; but it is 
my duty to submit to your decision, and I shall offer 
no further comment upon the terms in which that 
decision is conveyed. 

I desire to call the attention of the Department 
to its statement that I precipitately withdrew from the 
harbor of Charleston, abandoning the great object for 
which we had labored for so many months. This 
charge is a serious one, and highly derogatoiy to my 



488 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

professional character. When I withdrew the iron-clad 
vessels from action, on the evening of the 7th, I did 
so because I deemed it too late in the day to attempt 
to force a passage through the obstructions which we 
had encountered, and I fully intended to resume offen- 
sive operations the next day. But when I received 
the reports of the commanders of the iron-clads as to 
the injuries those vessels had sustained, and their per- 
formance in action, I was fully convinced that a re- 
newal of the attack could not result in the capture of 
Charleston, but would, in all probability, end in the 
destruction of a portion of the iron-clad fleet, and might 
leave several of them sunk within reach of the enemy ; 
which opinion I afterwards learned was fully shared by 
all their commanders. I therefore determined not to 
renew the attack. 

But, had not my professional judgment, sustained 
by all my commanding officers engaged in the attack, 
decided against further operations, I should have felt 
compelled, by the imperative order of the Department, 
dated the 2d of April, and received on the 9th, to 
withdraw my vessels. The words of this dispatch I 
beg leave to recall to the attention of the Department : 

"The exigencies of the public service are so pressing in 
the Gulf that the Department directs you to send all the iron- 
clads that are in a fit condition to move after your present 
attack upon Charleston directly to New Orleans, reserving to 
yourself only two." 

Accompanying this dispatch was an unofficial let- 
ter from the Assistant Secretary, giving the reasons for 
this order, and closing with this remark : " This plan 
has been agreed upon after mature consultation, and 
seems to be imperative." These documents were re- 
ceived, as I have stated, on the 9th of April, and from 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 489 

the hands of Colonel Hay, the private secretary of the 
President ; and three days later I re-crossed the bar 
and proceeded to Port Royal to put the iron-clads in 
condition for the new duty assigned them. 

In conclusion, I respectfully submit that there has 
been no labored effort on my part to depreciate the iron- 
clad vessels under my command, unless to report their 
obvious defects, and place the Department in possession 
of the result of the experience gained by their com- 
manders and myself in battle, may be so construed. 

To report their defects was not only my plain 
duty, but was also in compliance with an order from 
the Department to the commanders of the iron-clad 
vessels. I cannot therefore but express my surprise 
that the Department should have felt authorized to 
characterize the performance of this obvious duty as a 
labored effort to depreciate the powers of assault and 
resistance of the iron-clads. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South .Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 27th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — After addressing the Department in refer- 
ence to the prisoners on board the Vermont, I received 
an earnest request from Major- General Hunter to turn 
them over to him to be retained as hostages, he hav- 
ing received information that one of his captains had 
been executed by the rebels. 



490 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Having referred their case to the Department, I 
considered it my duty to wait for its decision, and so 
informed General Hunter. Since then I have received 
the Department's reply to my communication, inform- 
ing me of the parole of the officers of the Isaac 
Smith, and authorizing my sending the prisoners to 
Fortress Monroe for exchange. 

I have promised General Hunter to retain them 
still on the Vermont until I can hear again from the 
Department ; giving him time also to refer the matter 
himself, should he desire to do so. I hope the De- 
partment will approve my doing this. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, May 28th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — I have the honor to acknowledge the De- 
partment's dispatch of May 15th, enclosing a copy of a 
letter from Acting Lieutenant Conover, in reference to 
the defences of the city of Charleston. 

Lieutenant Commander Bacon, of the Commodore 
McDonough, reported to me, shortly after the capture 
of the Isaac Smith, the result of the reconnoissance up 
the Stono river spoken of by Lieutenant Conover. The 
depth of water found at the mouth of Wappoo creek, 
at low water, was two feet, and the rise and fall of 
the tide six to seven feet, giving the greatest depth, 
at high tide, from eight to nine feet. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 49 1 

The Isaac Smith was one of the h'ghtest draft 
gunboats in the squadron, with a formidable battery, 
drawing about nine feet, and, as Lieutenant Commander 
Bacon informs me, her captors took four days to get 
the vessel through this cut, taking out her guns and 
lightening her in every way. 

Lieutenant Conover, in recommending the attack 
of Fort Pemberton by iron-clads, seems not to have 
been aware that none of the monitors, owing to their 
draft, can cross Stono bar. 

All operations in Stono river can only be con- 
ducted by wooden gunboats. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S.C, June ist, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report to the De- 
partment the following positions, on blockade, of the 
vessels of this squadron : 

Off Morrill's Inlet, United States steamer Flam- 
beau. 

At Georgetown, United States steamer Conemaugh. 

Off Bull's Bay, United States steamer South Caro- 
lina. 

Off Charleston, United States steamers New Iron- 
sides, Canandaigua, Housatonic, Powhatan, Flag, Augusta, 
James Adger, Sebago, Lodona, Unadilla, Marblehead, 
Ottawa, Stettin, Dandelion, and schooner Norfolk Packet. 



492 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

In Stono Inlet, United States steamers Pawnee, 
E. B. Hale ; mortar schooner C. P. Williams. 

In North Edisto, United States iron-clads Patapsco, 
Catskill, Montauk, Nahant, and Nantucket. 

In St. Helena, United States bark Kingfisher. 

In Wassaw, United States steamer Cimerone. 

In Ossebaw, United States steamer Dawn. 

Guarding St. Catherine's, Sapelo, Doboy, and St. 
Simon's, United States steamers Paul Jones, Wamsutta, 
Madgie, and bark Fernandina. 

In St. Andrew's, United States bark Midnight. 

At Fernandina, United States steamer Mohawk, 

In St. John's, United States steamers Norwich and 
Uncas. 

In Port Royal, United States flag ship Wabash ; store 
ships Vermont and Valparaiso ; iron-clad Weehawken. 

Undergoing repairs and taking in stores, Chip- 
pewa, Huron, Wissahickon, Commodore McDonough, Key- 
stone State, Wamsutta, bark Braziliera; tugs Oleander, 
Daffodil, O. M. Pettit, Rescue, Columbine, and dispatch 
vessel Hope. 

As guard ship. Port Royal Harbor, United States 

mortar schooner Para. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 3d, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir: — I had the honor, in a previous dispatch, to 
report to the Department the necessity of increasing the 
vessels in this squadron in order to make the blockade 
more effective, particularly off Charleston. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 493 

I desire now to call the attention of the Department 
to another important point in connection with the block- 
ade of this coast. 

It has, hitherto, been maintained by wooden vessels, 
many of which are of the most vulnerable character; 
but the time is approaching when they will be liable, 
at any moment, to be driven off by iron-clads of the 
rebels from the harbors of Charleston and Savannah, 
and, if report speaks true, by iron-clads from abroad. 
To meet this serious difficulty, I have only one vessel 
which can do outside blockading duty, and that is the 
New Ironsides ; and her commander expresses doubts 
of her ability to remain off Charleston in the hurricane 
season. The other iron-clads, the monitors particularly, 
in the coming hot season, are totally unfit for this duty. 
They are not sea-going or sea-keeping vessels. In 
even a slight sea, the hatches must be battened down ; 
and the effect upon the crew, if continued for a brief 
period in hot weather, would be most deleterious ; 
indeed, in such weather they are not habitable. But, 
in addition to this very serious objection, the speed of 
these vessels, owing to the foulness of their bottoms, is 
so low that they are not only unfit to chase, but in a 
gale of wind could not keep themselves from going 
ashore. Even in a strong tide-way, owing to the 
deficiency or weakness of their ground-tackling, they 
frequently get adrift. These vessels can maintain a 
blockade in inland waters ; but the nearest point to 
Charleston where they can be placed is North Edisto. 

I have, on different occasions, referred to the quali- 
ties of these iron-clads for keeping the sea, but I deem 
it my duty to call the attention of the Department to 
them in an especial dispatch. 

In this connection I forward a copy of a letter from 



494 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

the commanding officers of the iron-clads, addressed to 
me when they understood it might be deemed necessary 
to order them on blockading duty off Charleston. 
Very respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 3d, 1863. 

Commander W. E. Le Roy, United States Ship Keystone State, 
Port Royal : 

Sir : — You will proceed with the Keystone State, 
under your command, to Philadelphia, and report your 
arrival to Commodore Stribling, the commander of the 
yard, and through him to the Navy Department by 
letter. 

On your way North you will stop off Charleston 
and communicate with Commodore Turner, of the New 
Ironsides, the senior officer present. 

As you may be detached from the Keystone State, 
and may not return to this station, I take this occa- 
sion to express my warm commendation of your ser- 
vices in this squadron during the past eighteen months. 
Your cheerful and prompt manner always in executing 
my orders, the good order and discipline of your ship, 
of which I have had ample opportunity of judging, 
and your gallant conduct when attacked by the rebel 
iron-clads off Charleston, have all been highly appreci- 
ated by me. 

Your services in this war, following immediately 
upon a full cruise on the coast of Africa, entitle you 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 495 

to some relaxation from duty, but I hope, when you 
do return to active service again, you will be ordered 
to my command. 

I will thank you to say to your officers and men 
that the Keystone State has always done her duty to 
my satisfaction, and that I part with her with regret. 

Respectfully, etc., 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 3d, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of the Department's communication on the 14th 
ultimo, informing me of the receipt of my several dis- 
patches, accompanied by the reports of the command- 
ing officers who participated in the attack on the 7th 
of April last. 

The tone of this communication is so different 
from the one which immediately followed it, dated on 
the 15th ultimo, and to which I have already replied 
by the Arago, that I desire to answer it more at 
length, and to meet the statements of the Department, 
as contained therein, as fully as may be in my power, 
and with every mark of consideration due to its dis- 
tinguished head. 

I am well aware, as the Department observes, 
that the results at Charleston were not all that were 
wished for; and I quite agree with the Department 
that there was, nevertheless, much in them that was 
gratifying; particularly that the loss of life was so 



496 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

small, and the capacity of the iron-clads for enduring 
the hot and heavy fire brought to bear upon them, 
which would have destroyed any vessels of wood 
heretofore used in warfare, was made so evident ; but 
I must take leave to remind the Department that 
ability to endure is not a sufficient element where- 
with to gain victories ; that endurance must be ac- 
companied with a corresponding power to inflict injury 
upon the enemy; and I will improve the present oc- 
casion to repeat the expression of a conviction, which 
I have already conveyed to the Department in former 
letters, that the weakness of the monitor class of ves- 
sels in this latter important particular is fatal to their 
attempts against fortifications having outlying obstruc- 
tions, as at the Ogeechee, and at Charleston, or against 
other fortifications upon elevations, as at Fort Darling, 
or against any modern fortifications before which they 
must anchor, or lie at rest, and receive much more 
than they can return. With even their diminished 
surface they are not invulnerable, and their various me- 
chanical contrivances for working their turrets and guns 
are so liable to immediate derangement, that in the 
brief though fierce engagement at Charleston, five out 
of the eight were disabled ; and, as I mentioned in 
my detailed report to the Department, half an hour 
more fighting would, in my judgment, have placed 
them all Jiors dc combat. 

The Department refers to its order of the iith 
of April, and to a telegram from the President, which 
directed the retention of the military forces of the 
United States near to Charleston in view of operations 
elsewhere ; and the Department states its impression 
that these dispatches were not in unison with my con- 
victions ; and expresses its regret that I should have 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 497 

been pained by their nature, when nothing was further 
from the intentions of the President, or of the Depart- 
ment, than a design to censure me in those com- 
munications. 

The letter of the Department, of the nth of April, 
was unexceptionable ; but I certainly did consider the 
telegram of the President as implying a censure upon 
myself; and I desire most respectfully to submit, as 
some evidence that such a belief was not unreasonably 
entertained by me, that the President, with great kind- 
ness, in a second dispatch, and before he could have 
known what impression his first had made, took occa- 
sion to state, much to my gratification, that he had 
not intended to censure me. 

In regard to the subject matter of the order of 
the Department of the nth of April, and to that of 
the accompanying telegram, I desire to state here 
that the order of the Department of the 2d of April 
had been received by me on the 9th, and was so 
imperative and so fully explanatory of the reasons 
for making it, that I had, as mentioned in my dispatch, 
No. 267, proceeded on the 12th, as soon as was prac- 
ticable, to Port Royal with the monitors, to put them 
under repairs before sending them to their new destina- 
tion. The order of the nth, and the telegram, found 
me here in compliance of this previous order of 
April 2d. 

It was in replying to this telegram, which I then 
believed to imply a censure upon my action at Charles- 
ton, that I deemed it due to myself to state that I 
had never advised the attack on Charleston ; and I 
perceive the Department has taken especial exception 
to this expression, and has dwelt upon it at consider- 
able length in its letter to which I am now replying. 

32 



498 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

A reference to my correspondence with the Depart- 
ment, and more particularly to my letters to the As- 
sistant Secretary of the Navy, will certainly show that I 
never advised the attack on Charleston at all ; but that, 
if made, it should be accompanied by a sufficient num- 
ber of troops to insure success ; and an inspection of 
this correspondence, which, with the Assistant Secre- 
tary, was constantly maintained, and which put him, 
and, as I supposed, the Department also, in full pos- 
session of my views as to every matter connected with 
my command, will relieve me, I feel assured, from the 
imputation that I did not keep the Department suffi- 
ciently advised of my opinions as to the operations 
contemplated on this coast. And I beg to refer to 
the same correspondence, as containing all the informa- 
tion obtained by me from every source, in regard to 
the defences of Charleston ; and if, after such informa- 
tion, Charleston harbor continued to be a sealed book 
to the Department, it was equally so to me. 

The Department, in continuing its remarks upon the 
want of such information from me as the admiral com- 
manding, observes, nevertheless, " that the feasibility and 
the probable results of the demonstrations that were to 
be made, had been canvassed and fully understood 
when I visited Washington last autumn." 

The Honorable Secretary will remember how very 
few words passed on the subject between him and 
myself It was, however, more fully discussed with 
the Assistant Secretary, who proposed that I should 
return to my station by way of Hampton Roads, in 
order that we might further canvass the matter, and 
he accompanied me that far from Washington. But 
nothing was matured, and for the reason that all was 
still in the vague future. Not a new iron-clad, except 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 499 

the New Ironsides, was yet finished, and the original 
monitor was on the dock in the Washington Navy 
Yard. The defects of the New Ironsides were glaring, 
particularly the contracted size of her pilot-house, and 
its improper location behind the enormous smoke- 
stack, shutting out all view ahead, and most materially 
interfering with the management of the vessel in 
battle ; defects painfully realized in the attack on 
Charleston. 

I remember, however, that in our discussion, the 
confidence of the Assistant Secretary in the monitor 
class of vessels was so profound as to lead him to say 
that one monitor alone would cause the immediate 
evacuation of Charleston ; upon which occasion, not 
entertaining such unlimited faith in the powers of those 
vessels, nor disposed to underrate an enemy, I took 
the liberty of reminding him that one monitor, aided 
by the Galena and Naugatuck, both iron-clads, with 
several wooden gunboats, had failed to take Fort Dar- 
ling, notwithstanding the great gallantry displayed on 
that occasion. 

The Department will therefore perceive that when 
I left Washington there was really nothing matured, 
though I was firmly impressed with the fixed deter- 
mination of the Department that Charleston should be 
attacked, and that, with the iron-clads, the attack must 
be successful. 

The powers and adaptability of these vessels were 
as much a sealed book to me as the defences of 
Charleston to the Department ; but under all the cir- 
cumstances, to wit, the imperfect knowledge of those 
defences, and of the powers of the iron-clads, in which 
the Department had expressed unbounded confidence, 
no officer could hesitate to make the experiment, — 



500 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

and I gave to it my whole heart and energy, not 
hesitating to ask the Department for all the iron-clads 
that could be spared ; and I am happy to say that 
the Department spared no pains to increase the force 
of those vessels. 

While preparations were making, and the comple- 
tion of the monitors was going on, the trials in the 
Ogeechee took place. As the Department is aware, 
the results here were most discouraging. Two attacks, 
successively made by one monitor, with gunboats and 
a mortar vessel, had no effect on a fort of seven guns, 
protected with piling and torpedoes. This was followed 
by a bombardment of eight hours with three monitors, 
with the gunboats and three mortar vessels, and, as 
before, with a like result. The injuries to the monitors 
were extensive, and their offensive powers found to be 
feeble in dealing with forts, particularly earthworks. 

It may, perhaps, be said that it was my duty to 
have placed before the Department, in more emphatic 
terms than were used by me, the deductions to be 
drawn from these preliminary trials ; for if three moni- 
tors, with gunboats and mortar vessels, following two 
previous trials on Fort McAllister, with one monitor 
and the wooden boats, had failed to reach or take a 
seven-gun battery, how were eight or nine iron-clads, 
of all kinds, to capture the defences of Charleston, 
consisting of continuous lines of works and forts ex- 
tending for several miles, and mounting some hundreds 
of guns of improved make, and with a more com- 
plicated and more formidable system of obstructions ? 
But as these were deductions patent on the perusal of 
my dispatches, I did not deem it necessary to do more 
than lay all the facts of those trials before the Depart- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 50I 

ment for its judgment and decision; and in my dispatch, 
No. 41, written as early as January 28th, 1863, I ex- 
pressed myself as follows : 

" My own previous impressions of these vessels, frequently 
expressed to Assistant Secretary Fox, have been confirmed; viz., 
that whatever degree of impenetrability they might have, there 
was no corresponding quality of aggression or destructiveness, as 
against forts." 

"This experiment also convinced me of another impression, 
firmly held and often expressed, that in all such operations, to 
secure success, troops are necessary." 

These facts, however, seemed not to have changed 
the views of the Department ; and, in accordance with 
its previous orders, and its well-known determination 
to effect the capture of Charleston, I determined to 
make the experiment, and to risk, and possibly lose, 
whatever of prestige pertained to a long and success- 
ful professional career, in order to meet the necessi- 
ties of the war, and the wishes of the Government. 

The experiment was made ; and, in my opinion, 
sufficiently, thoroughly, and conclusively. That it did 
not succeed in capturing the forts, and the city of 
Charleston, is a matter of regret as keen and of dis- 
appointment as great to myself, and to those who 
shared in it, as can be felt by the Department, or by 
the country. It was not, however, without important 
results ; for it established anew the supremacy of ar- 
tillery in forts, as against floating batteries, and con- 
firmed the truth of the opinions expressed by me, in 
my previous dispatches, that in all such operations, to 
secure success, troops are necessary. 

Had the land forces, on this occasion, been at all 
adequate to the emergency, the result might have been 



502 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

all that the country desired. With the army in pos- 
session of the land approaches to Charleston, the attack 
from the sea could have been pushed to desperation, 
and the sacrifice of some of the iron-clad vessels could 
then have been properly made, as they would not have 
fallen into the hands of the enemy. But, unsupported 
by operations on shore, it would have been most 
culpable waste of material, upon an unjustifiable forlorn 
hope, to have carried the assault by sea to extremi- 
ties, with the prospect of leaving a certain proportion 
of the iron-clads with the enemy, in condition, per- 
haps, to be raised and repaired by him, and after- 
wards used, from interior lines, most effectively against 
wooden blockaders. 

The Department expresses disappointment at not 
receiving from me suggestions in regard to future move- 
ments. 

I stated to the Department in my first report, on 
the 8th of April, that, in my judgment, to renew the 
attack would convert a failure into a disaster, and that 
Charleston could not be taken by a purely naval 
attack. In my detailed report of the 15th of April, 
I repeated that it was wholly impracticable to take 
Charleston with the naval force under my command. 

In making the above declarations without reserve, 
with a full knowledge of the responsibility involved, 
and under a high sense of duty, regardless of con- 
sequences to myself, I thought that I would, at the 
same time, be relieving the Department of all embar- 
rassment in reference to any immediate movements, and 
that the Department would appreciate my motives in 
so doing. 

I did not, therefore, make any suggestions ; but 
waited to hear from the Department in acknowledg- 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 503 

ment of my reports ; and I deeply regret to say, that 
the long and unusual silence maintained by the Depart- 
ment has been to me a cause of very sore disappoint- 
ment. 

Coming out of a battle of so novel a character 
as to attract the attention of the world, and being the 
most momentous event in the service of this squadron 
since its victory in this harbor, the admiral command- 
ing feels that he had a right to look for ordinary 
official courtesy, if not for approval. The Department 
has declined to let my countrymen see my official 
reports, and to this I submit; but the reasons assigned 
for this course surely did not preclude me from being 
honored by an acknowledgment of the receipt of my 
dispatches in the usual course of mail. For such 
acknowledgment, however, I waited in vain, until six 
weeks had elapsed after the battle ; and I had the 
mortification of reading European comments upon it 
before I received a line from the Department. 

The favorable opportunity for the capture of Charles- 
ton presented itself when the gunboats first took posses- 
sion of Stono Inlet, and the army landed, under their 
protection, on James Island, which at that time was 
not strongly fortified. The attack, however, failed from 
causes which it is not necessary to mention here, and 
the opportunity was lost. 

James Island has been thoroughly protected since 
that event, and the labor upon the harbor defences has 
not ceased since the fall of Sumter. 

When I stated to the Department that, in my 
opinion, Charleston could not be taken by a purely 
naval attack, I wished to be understood in the ordi- 
nary acceptation of those terms as used in war, and 
as conveying the idea of measuring the importance of 



504 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES 01' 

the operation with its cost. I do not doubt that there 
is material enough in the country to accomplish this 
result, in time ; but nevertheless, obstructions in the way 
may be made insuperable, and to take a place it must 
first be reached. 

By a siege, and with the aid of iron-clads armed 
differently from the present monitors, whose turrets 
could be relied upon to continue to turn, at least, for 
a few hours consecutively, and sufficient in number to 
relieve the disabled ones, the forts can be gradually 
reduced so as to get at the obstructions, which can- 
not be removed at night, or during daylight, by the 
monitors while under fire; but the Department will re- 
member how opposed it was to taking Charleston by 
siege, whether from Morris Island, or elsewhere. 

The season for such joint co-operation is now 
passing away, as during the summer James Island is 
said to be too unhealthy for whites to remain upon 
it. This, though bad for the enemy, would be fatal 
to our troops. It is probable, taking into consideration 
the number and the strength of the forts upon James 
Island, that military science would indicate Bull's Bay 
as the point from which the army should move. This 
bay was suggested as available for a base of operations 
against Charleston, by the board convened by the De- 
partment in 1 86 1. 

If a joint operation, on a sufficient scale, is not to 
be undertaken at this moment, I see nothing to re- 
commend now but to endeavor to enforce the block- 
ade of Charleston, which notwithstanding the presence 
there of a larger force than I have had before it pre- 
viously, is more evaded than ever. 

The safety of the blockading force must also be 
looked to, and I respectfully and earnestly appeal to 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 505 

the Department to contemplate the condition of the 
blockade of the whole coast from North Carolina to 
Florida. If, as seems probable, it should have to con- 
tend with sea-going iron-clads of the enemy, preparing 
in their own waters, and abroad, it is to be greatly 
feared that the monitors will not be equal to the oc- 
casion. They can protect the inside stations, but they 
are not adapted for ocean work ; and iron-clad vessels, 
that can cruise and keep the sea, are now absolutely 
needed. The want of such vessels will be more im- 
peratively felt as the events of this war continue to 
develop themselves, and I feel myself greatly hampered 
at this moment, because the force under my command, 
so far as iron-clads are concerned, is composed of ves- 
sels whose necessities require them to be kept in 
smooth water. 

But as I have already called the attention of the 
Department to this subject in a special dispatch, I 
need not dwell any further upon it at present. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 6th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the De- 
partment's dispatch of the 22d ultimo, inclosing an 
article from the Charleston Mercury, in which it is 



506 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

stated that the guns of the Keokuk have been re- 
moved from the wreck and taken to Charleston. 

I have no information on the subject other than 
is given in the enclosed slip, and which I had seen 
before, but I have very little doubt of its truth. The 
work, however, must have been done at night. 

The Department has already been informed in my 
dispatch, No. 208, that I offered every facility to Chief 
Engineer Robie to blow up the Keokuk with the 
Ericsson raft ; but that officer found it too dangerous 
to use. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June loth, 1S63. 

Commander G. \V. Rodgers, U. S. S. Catskill, Senior Officer, 
North Edisto: 

Sir : — Enclosed are orders to Commander Downes. 
Please dispatch the Nahant with all haste. Informa- 
tion was received to-day, from deserters from Savannah, 
that the iron-clad Atlanta will probably attack, to-night, 
the Cimerone, at Wassaw, and subsequently the army 
forces at Ossebaw. Captain John Rodgers leaves here 
this afternoon, if possible. 

The Prometheus will tow the Nahant directly to 
Wassaw. If the Prometheus is not able to tow the 
Nahant, you will order the Dandelion to tow her. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 507 

If it should so happen that the Nahant is not 
ready, you will please dispatch the first one that is 
ready for immediate use. 
Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 

P. S. — You will send Pilot Cook to Wassaw, on 
the Nahant. 

S. F. D. P., 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June loth, 1863. 

Commander J. DowNES, United States Ship Nahant, 
North Edisto : 

Sir : — You will, on the receipt of this order, pro- 
ceed at once with the Nahant, in tow of the Pro- 
metheus, to Wassaw, reporting on your arrival to 
Captain John Rodgers, senior officer present. 

Information has been received that the rebel iron- 
clad Atlanta is about to attack our vessels there. 
Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear-Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



508 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June loth, 1863. 

Captain J. Rodgers, member of Court Martial: 

Sir : — Your services being immediately required 
elsewhere, you will, on the receipt of this order, con- 
sider yourself relieved from duty on the court of which 
you are now a member. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June loth, 1863. 

Captain John Rodgers, United States Ship 
Weehavvken : 

Sir: — A report has reached me, through desert- 
ers, that the iron-clad Atlanta will probably attempt 
to-night to attack the Cimerone. 

You will therefore proceed at once with the Wee- 
hawken to Wassaw, and take charge of those waters. 
Another iron-clad will be sent as soon as possible. 
Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 12th, 1863. 

Commander D. Ammen, United States 
Ship Patapsco : 

Dear Sir: — A medical survey having pronounced 
you unfit for duty, you will take passage North on 
the United States transport Arago, and on your arrival 
report yourself to the Department by letter. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 509 

I cannot permit this occasion o pass without re- 
newing the expression of my respect and confidence 
ehcited by your long and arduous services in the 
squadron under my command, now dating back to 
October, icS6i. 

Your services in the Seneca, which vessel, by your 
skill and energy, kept her station through the memo- 
rable gale of that year, which the squadron encountered 
on its way to Port Royal ; your share in the capture 
of the forts of this harbor, your judicious and ener- 
getic course in the North Edisto and St, John's Rivers, 
and, above all, your conduct when in command of the 
iron-clad Patapsco in the attack on Charleston, deserve 
especial commendation, and it gives me pleasure to 
refer to them. 

I hope your health will soon be restored, that the 
service and your country may soon have further proofs 
of your devotion. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 12th, 1863. 

Captain C. O. Boutelle, Assistant Coast Survey, United 
States Steamer Bibb : 

Sir: — I take pleasure in acknowledging your two 
communications of the loth inst, one detailing the 
services of the United States Coast Survey steamer 
Bibb, in this squadron, and the other referring particu- 
larly to the lighting of the southeast channel into 
Port Royal harbor. 



5IO . OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Your services have not only been of great value 
in the surveying of the different sounds on this coast, 
but you have at all times exhibited promptitude and 
earnestness in carrying out the instructions of the 
Superintendent of the Coast Survey, in aiding in every 
possible way my operations. 

Since the Bibb rejoined this squadron, on the 27th 
of November last, you have surveyed the entrance to 
Georgetown harbor ; have carried on surveys connected 
with the coal depot and wharf to be constructed at Bay 
Point; arranged the beacons for the lighting of the 
southeast channel of this port ; visited, with Mr. A, 
Goodwin, light-house engineer, every harbor between 
St. Helena and St. Augustine ; and aided and assisted 
him in carrying out his orders. 

You also made important surveys on Charleston 
bar, in January last, and previous to the attack on the 
forts in April, in which attack your executive officer, 
Mr. Piatt, acted as pilot to the Weehawken. 

Since that time you have been engaged in buoy- 
ing Ossebaw bar, and in making a complete re-survey 
of the bar of Port Royal, and the channels entering 
it, marking by buoys the middle ground of the har- 
bor, and other dangerous spots. 

In a previous letter I have expressed my com 
mendation of your conduct in seeking after and tow- 
ing the army transport steamer Pilot Boy to this port ; 
and I am pleased to hear that General Foster has, in 
a written communication, expressed his acknowledg- 
ment of your services in that case. 

But apart and aside from the duties alluded to 
above, the Bibb has been employed constantly as a 
dispatch vessel, in conveying important orders connected 
with the naval operations in this squadron, where she 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 5 I I 

has been of essential use, particularly since the with- 
drawal of the Water Witch. 

In closing our official intercourse, I deem it an 
act of simple duty to express to you my appreciation 
and thanks for the important services you have rendered 
your country, and the aid you have been to me as 
commander-in-chief of this squadron, while carrying 
out the duties of your own particular department. 

I have ever found you prompt, zealous, intelligent, 
and obliging, and I shall always esteem it a privilege 
to bear testimony to the same. 
I am very truly yours, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 13th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt 
of the Department's dispatch, dated June 3d, 1863, 
informing me that the Department had concluded to 
relieve me of the command of the South Atlantic 
Blockading Squadron, and to order Rear Admiral 
Foote as my successor. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



5 1 2 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 13th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — Enclosed (marked No. i) is a survey held 
on the United States surveying steamer Bibb, in con- 
sequence of which she has been ordered to New York 
for repairs. 

I deem it proper to report to the Department 
that the Bibb, since she rejoined this squadron, in 
November last, has been engaged mostly in the per- 
formance of duties connected with the navy, in which 
Mr. Boutelle, who has command of the Bibb, has shown 
great promptitude and earnestness, and on all occasions 
has been of very essential service. I should frequently 
have been much embarrassed in communicating with 
the different stations of the squadron, after the break- 
ing down of the Water Witch, had it not been for 
the Bibb. 

As she proceeds North broken down in the service 
of the navy, I respectfully suggest that she be repaired 
at a navy yard, by the Government. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 14th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — Lieutenant James P. Robertson, of this ship, 
having served on board of her since she went into 
commission, without a day's leave of absence, I have 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 513 

given him permission to go North, for t^vo weeks, in 
the Arago. 

I desire to express my warm commendation of 
the faithful and efficient manner in which he has per- 
formed his duties as an officer attached to this ship, 
and during the various expeditions which have been 
fitted out from the Wabash. 

His conduct during the engagement with the forts 
at Port Royal, when in charge of the quarter-deck 
division, came under my own immediate observation, 
and I was much pleased with his manly bearing and 
coolness in. action. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
\ Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 17th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — Having reasbn to believe that the Atlanta 
and other rebel iron-clads at Savannah were about at- 
tempting to enter Wassaw Sound, by Wilmington river, 
for the purpose of attacking the blockading vessels 
there, and in the sounds further south, I dispatched, 
some days ago, the Weehawken, Captain John Rodgers, 
from this port, and the Nahant, Commander J. Downes, 
from North Edisto, to Wassaw, where the Cimerone, 
Commander Drake, was maintaining an inside blockade. 
I have the satisfaction to report to the Depart- 
ment that this morning the Atlanta came down b}- 
7>i 



5 1 4 OFFICIAL DISPA TCHES OF 

Wilmington river into Wassaw, and was captured. 
This information has just been received, in a telegram 
from Fort Pulaski, sent by Captain John Rodgers. 
Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 17th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C: 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform the Depart- 
ment that, since mailing my dispatch (No. 316) I have 
received further details of the capture of the Atlanta, 
sent through the kindness of Colonel Barton, by tele- 
graph, from Fort Pulaski. 

The Atlanta, Captain William Webb, came down 
this morning, via Wilmington river, to attack our ves- 
sels in Wassaw. She was accompanied by two wooden 
steamers, filled, it is said, with persons as spectators. 

The Weehawken at once engaged her, firing, in 
all, five shots, three of which took effect, penetrating 
her armor, and killing or wounding the crews of two 
guns. Two out of three of the pilots were also badly 
wounded, and the pilot-house broken up ; whereupon 
the vessel grounded, and immediately after surrendered. 
The Weehawken was not hit. 

The armament of the Atlanta was two seven-inch and 
two six-inch Brooks guns. She is but slightly injured. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 5 I 5 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 19th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — I have the honor to forward, herewith 
(marked No. i), the interesting report of Captain John 
Rodgers, of the capture of the Confederate iron-clad 
steamer Atlanta, better known as the Fingal, as well 
as the report to Captain Rodgers of Commander 
Downes, of the Nahant, who participated in the capture. 

The Fingal, in a dense fog, ran the blockade 
of Savannah a few days after the Port Royal forts 
were taken, in November, 1861. She has been closely 
watched ever since ; and, as in the case of the Nash- 
ville, the long and ceaseless vigilance of my officers 
have been rewarded. The Atlanta is now in Port 
Royal under the American flag, having, unaided, steamed 
into this harbor from Wassaw. 

The Department will notice, in this event, how 
well Captain Rodgers has sustained his distinguished 
reputation, and added to the list of the brilliant ser- 
vices which he has rendered to his country during 
this rebellion. 

It will be my duty to recapitulate these services, 
which have taken place during his connection with 
my command, in another communication. 

Commander Downes, with his usual gallantry, 
moved as rapidly as possible towards the enemy, re- 
serving his fire until he could get into close action, 
but lost the opportunity, from the brief nature of the 
engagement, of using his battery. 

I have been told that the Confederate government 
considered the Atlanta as the most efficient of its 
i ron-clads. 



5 1 6 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

The officers and crew of the Atlanta, with the ex- 
ception of the wounded and one of the surgeons, have 
been transferred to the United States ship James Adger, 
to be conveyed, at once, to Hampton Roads. A Hst 
is herewith enclosed (marked No. 3). 

I cannot close this dispatch without calling the 
attention of the Department to the coolness and gal- 
lantry of Acting Master Benjamin N. Loring, especially 
recommended by Captain Rodgers. I trust that the 
Department will consider his services as worthy of 
consideration. 

I forward herewith (marked 4, 5, and 6), the lists 
of the officers and crews of the Weehawken, Nahant, 
and Cimerone. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F, Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 21st, 1863. 

Captain John Rodgers, United States Ship 
Weehawken : 

Sir : — I take great pleasure in acknowledging 
your official report of the capture of the rebel iron- 
clad steamer Atlanta, and congratulate you on having 
deprived the enemy of their most powerful vessel -of- 
war. 

You will please express to your officers and men, 
if you have not already done so, my commendation 
of their gallant services on this, as on all other oc- 
casions. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 517 

I have specially called the attention of the De- 
partment to Acting Master Loring; and it is my pur- 
pose, before leaving, to write to the Secretary of the 
Navy my high appreciation of your valuable and gal- 
lant services since you have been under my command 
in this squadron. 

Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 21st, 1863. 



Commander John Downes, United States Ship 
Nahant : 

Sir : — I had the pleasure of receiving the official 
reports of Captain John Rodgers and yourself, on the 
19th inst., detailing the circumstances of the capture 
of the rebel iron-clad steamer Atlanta ; which reports 
were at once forwarded to the Department, with my 
dispatches, by the James Adger. 

Previous to receiving these communications I had 
no information other than that which was derived 
from short telegrams sent from Fort Pulaski. Your 
report enlightened me as to the position of the Na- 
hant in the action ; and, as might be anticipated from 
your well-known gallantry, your vessel was fast ap- 
proaching the enemy to engage her at close quarters, 
when she suddenly surrendered. 

Your determination to reserve your fire was, I 
think, a wise one ; and I do not see that there is 
any cause of regret for having done so, as you were 
pursuing your foe, not awaiting her approach. 



5l8 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

The capture of the Atlanta is a matter of great 
congratulation ; and you will please express to your 
officers and crew my appreciation of their services on 
this, as on all other occasions since the Nahant has 
been in my squadron. 

In my dispatch to the Department, in referring to 
the Nahant, I have thus expressed myself: 

" Commander Downes, with his usual gallantry, moved as 
rapidly as possible towards the enemy, reserving his fire until 
he could get into close action ; but lost the opportunity, from 
the brief nature of the engagement, of using his battery," 

Very respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 25th, 1S63. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — The Department has been informed, in my 
previous dispatches, of the capture of the Confederate 
iron-clad steamer Atlanta. 

On the 20th inst. I ordered a strict and careful 
survey to be made of her hull, armor, machinery, etc. 
(enclosed, marked No. i) ; and I herewith submit the re- 
port made in pursuance thereof (marked No. 2), as well 
as a drawing made of the vessel by the Second As- 
sistant Engineer, P. R. Voorhees, of this ship, and a pen- 
cil sketch by Mr. Xanthus Smith, Commander Corbin's 
clerk. 

I also forward herewith a survey upon the pay- 
master's stores of the prize (marked No. 3), part of 
which, as the Department will perceive, is represented as 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 5 I9 

of good quality, and fit for issue in the storekeeper's 
department of this squadron ; the rest of the stores 
are not considered suitable for that purpose, and it is 
recommended that they be sold. May I ask the De- 
partment to give special directions whether they may 
be disposed of here, if practicable, or whether they 
should be sent North. 

I will forward by the next mail the report show- 
ing in detail the quantity and character of the ammu- 
nition found on board. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 29th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — Drawings and descriptions of the Atlanta 
have been prepared and already forwarded to the De- 
partment. Inventories of all articles found on board 
have been made, and a board of competent officers, 
having no pecuniary interest in the capture, has been 
appointed to appraise the vessel, her equipment, etc., 
and their report will be forwarded to the Department. 

Repairs have already been made, in part, and are 
still progressing ; and enclosed is a requisition from 
the fleet engineer, Danby, for engineers, firemen, and 
coal heavers, for the prize. She is, at present, under 
the command of Acting Master Loring, of the Wee- 
hawken. 



520 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Two flags, taken on board, have been already put 
up and addressed to the Navy Department, the only 
trophies I have any knowledge of. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, June 29th, 1863. 

Brigadier - General Q. A. Gilmore, Commanding Department 
of the South : 

General : — I have delayed, until the arrival of the 
Arago, to reply to your communication of the 26th 
inst., in reference to naval assistance and co-operation 
in proposed movements on your part. 

As I expected, the Arago brings the information 
that I may look this week for my relief. Admiral 
Dahlgren, who will, doubtless, bring instructions from 
the Government in reference to the subject matter of 
your letter ; while I am in entire ignorance of the 
same, having received neither orders nor intimations 
as to what was pending or intended, except that a 
large party of workmen, with their superintendents, 
have been sent with orders to strengthen the monitors 
in a most material manner, work which will take 
twelve weeks, by their estimates. 

I have the pleasure to inform you that I have 
every expectation of getting an iron-clad, the Nan- 
tucket, across the Stono bar at the coming spring 
tides, in accordance with your request ; and shall di- 
rect the senior officer of the four vessels in Stono 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. $21 

to give all support and co-operation possible to the 
army there. 

In reference to operations off Charleston, you will 
at once perceive that such operations, once commenced, 
could not be discontinued; and I cannot, in justice to 
my successor, and in the absence of instructions, en- 
gage therein. 

General, I trust I need not add how agreeable it 
would be to me to be associated with you again in 
operations on this coast, impressed as I was by your 
efficiency and success while attached to the expedi- 
tionary corps ; impressions which have been much 
strengthened by your present energy and zeal. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July ist, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — I have the honor to report the following 
positions, on blockade, of the vessels of this squadron : 

Off Morrill's Inlet, United States steamer Flam- 
beau. 

At Georgetown, United States steamer Conemaugh. 

Off Bull's Bay, United States steamer South Caro- 
lina. 

Off Charleston, United States steamers New Iron- 
sides, Canandaigua, Powhatan, Flag, Augusta, Chippewa, 
Lodona, Marblehead, Ottawa, Huron, Wissahickon, Mem- 
phis, Dandelion, Norfolk Packet, and G. W. Blunt. 



522 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

In Stono, United States steamers Pawnee, Nan- 
tucket, Commodore McDonough, and schooner C. P. 
Williams. 

In North Edisto, United States steamers Catskill 
and Patapsco. 

In St. Helena, United States bark Kingfisher. 

In Wassaw, United States steamers Unadilla and 
Cimerone. 

In Ossebaw, United States steamer Water Witch. 

Guarding St. Catherine's, Sapelo, Doboy, and St. 
Simon's, United States steamers Paul Jones, Wamsutta, 
Madgie, and bark Midnight. 

In St. Andrew's, United States bark Braziliera, 

At Fernandina, United States steamer Potomska. 

In St. John's, United States steamers E. B. Hale 
and Norwich. 

Off Mosquito, United States schooner Para. 

In Port Royal, flag ship Wabash ; store ships Ver- 
mont and Valparaiso ; also, repairing and taking in stores, 
steamers Housatonic, Weehawken, Montauk, Nahant, 
Stettin, Oleander, tugs Daffodil, Pettit, Rescue, and 
Columbine. 

As guard ship, at Port Royal, South Carolina, United 
States ship Mohawk. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 523 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 2d, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir : — Having received information from Commander 
Balch, of the Pawnee, senior officer present in Stono, 
obtained in part through deserters, that the rebels have 
a very large force of negroes engaged in deepening 
Wappoo Cut, in order to push their rams through into 
Stono River, and Brigadier General Gilmore being also 
anxious for his force, now on Folly Island, I sent Act- 
ing Masters Godfrey and Hafford, our two most ex- 
perienced pilots, to sound Stono bar, and its approaches, 
with great care. The result was the discovery of a new 
channel, recently formed, shorter and straighter than the 
one heretofore used, and carrying over the bar, at the 
highest spring tides, fourteen feet. 

I therefore ordered the United States iron -clad 
steamer Nantucket, Commander J. C. Beaumont, to cross 
the bar and enter Stono, which was safely accomplished 
on the 1st instant. The Nantucket was towed by the 
United States army transport Ben Deford. 

Respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



524 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 3d, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C. : 

Sir: — I forward herewith (marked No. i), the re- 
port of a board of survey appointed to appraise the 
value of the hull, machinery, ordnance, ordnance stores, 
provisions, and small arms and equipments of the 
prize iron-clad steamer Atlanta. The whole valuation 
amounts to $350,829.25. 

I also forward, herewith, an inventory of the ord- 
nance and ordnance stores (marked No. 2), the survey 
on the provisions and small stores (marked No. 3), 
and the survey on the equipments and stores in the 
master's, boatswain's, sailmaker's, and carpenter's depart- 
ments (marked No. 4). 

I have also forwarded, by this mail, to the De- 
partment, the flags of the Atlanta, the muster rolls of 
that vessel and the Georgia, and log-books of the 
Atlanta. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 
S. F, Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 3d, 1863. 

Commodore G. W. Rodgers, Catskill, Senior Officer, 
North Edisto : 

Sir : — You will please, with all dispatch, prepare 
the Catskill and Patapsco for immediate service. 
Respectfully, 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral, 
Commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 



ADMIRAL S. F. DU PONT. 525 

(Confidential). 

Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 3d, 1863. 

Commodore T. Turner, New Ironsides, 
Off Charleston, S. C. : 

Sir : — General Gilmore has applied to me for 
assistance on Morris Island. Though without instruc- 
tions, and daily expecting Admiral Dahlgren to relieve 
me, I am desirous that the latter should find every- 
thing in as great a state of readiness as I can have 
them. 

You will, therefore, keep the Ironsides, and such 
vessels as are suitable for this service, in a condition 
to move at any moment across the bar, taking what 
quantity of coal you may deem best for this purpose. 

S. F. Du Pont, 

Rear Admiral. 



Flag Ship Wabash, 
Port Royal Harbor, S. C, July 5th, 1863. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy : 

Sir : — As I was preparing to hand over, at an 
early hour in the morning, the command of the South 
Atlantic Blockading Squadron to Rear Admiral Dahl- 
gren, in accordance with the orders of the Depart- 
ment, I received from the latter its communication of 
the 27th of June, the latest date which has reached 
me, referring to the guns of the Keokuk. 

Having indulged the hope that my command, cover- 
ing a period of twenty-one months afloat, had not 
been without results, I was not prepared for a con- 



526 OFFICIAL DISPATCHES. 

tinuance of that censure from the Department which 
has characterized its letters to me since the monitors 
failed to take Charleston. 

I can only add now, that to an officer of my 
temperament, whose sole aim has been to do his whole 
duty, and who has passed through forty-seven years 
of service without a word of reproof, these censures 
of the Navy Department would be keenly felt, if I 
did not know they were wholly undeserved. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

S. F. Du Pont. 



INDEX. 



Adirondack, loss of the, pp. 290, 291, 
292, 3(X), 301. 

America, rebel yacht, capture of, p. 
150. 

Anglia, capture of the, pp. 332, 334. 

Annie Dees, capture of the, p. 364. 

Appointment to command of South 
Atlantic Blockading Squadron, p. 
39- 

Aquila, capture of the, p. 252. 

Atlanta, capture of the, pp. 514 et seq. 

lialtimore American, false statements 
of, regarding attack on Charles- 
ton, pp. 464 et seq., 476. 

Beauregard, Gen. P. T., proclamation 
of, declaring blockade raised, pp. 
408, 410, 412. 

Blockade, rigor of, pp. 79, 157 et seq., 
166, 167; difficulty of maintain- 
ing the, pp. 286, 295, 406, 407, 
426 ; necessity of iron-clad ves- 
sels for the, p. 493. 

Blockade of Mexican ports, p. 8 et 
seq. 

Blockading fleet, condition of, p. 227. 

Blockading instructions, p. 43. 



Brunswick, Georgia, occupation of, p. 
129. 

Budd, Lieutenant T. A., death of, p. 
132. 

Canandaigua, dispatch of the, to as- 
sistance of the Adirondack, p. 290. 

Catiline, capture of the, p. 209. 

Charleston, attack on, pp. 437 et seq., 
449 et seq.; notes on the attack 
on, p. 448 ; reply to comments 
of Navy Department on the op- 
erations against, p. 458 et seq., 
495 et seq. 

Condor, capture and burning of the, 
pp. 15, 16. 

Contrabands, surrender of, p. 219; 
colonies of, p. 363. 

Cumljerland Sound, operations in, 
pp. 108 et seq. 

David Crockett, capture of the, p. 324. 

Defiance, capture of the, p. 310. 

Economist, escape of the, p. 212. 

Eliza, capture of the, p. 282. 

Emilie, alleged improper conduct of 
crews capturing the, pp. 271 et 
seq. 



530 



OFFICIAL DISPATCHES OF 



Fanny, capture of the, p. 282. 

Fanny Laurie, capture of the, p. 307. 

Fernandina, occupation of, pp. 112 
et seq. 

Fingal, Confederate steamer, entrance 
to Savannah, p. 72; capture of, 
pp. 514 et seq. 

Florida, coast of, operations on, pp. 
122 et seq. 

Fort Clinch, capture of, p. 113. 

Fort McAllister, operations against, 
p. 424. 

Fort Pulaski, fall of, p. 153. 

Fulton, C. C, libelous letter of, pp. 
464 et seq. 

Genesis Point, engagement with bat- 
tery at, p. 375 ; operations against 
fort at, pp 393, 416 et seq. 

Gladiator, rebel steamer, status of, 
p. 85. 

Governor Milton, capture of the, p. 

344- 
Heyvvood, Lieutenant, relief of, pp. 

23 et seq. 

Huston, rebel guerrilla, capture of, 
p. 196. 

Hutchinson's Island, outrage on, p. 
202. 

Insubordination, p. 369. 

Iron-clads, building of rebel, pp. 325, 
326; need of, for blockading, p. 
493 

Isaac Smith, U. S. ship, loss of bat- 
tery, p. 49; capture of the, pp 
402 et seq. 

Keokuk, loss of the, ]>. 453; removal 
of guns of the, p. 506 ; attempt 
to blow up the, pp. 457, 461. 

Kidnapping of Creoles, pp. 349, 352. 



Light-houses, condition of, p. 143. 

Lodona, capture of the, pp. 248 et 
seq. 

Mary Stewart, capture of the, p. 208. 

Mason and Slidell, departure of, from 
Charleston, p. 43. 

Mather, Acting Master S. W., death 
of, p. 132. 

Mercedita, surrender of the, p. 399. 

Mercury, capture of the, p. 383. 

Minho, blockade-runner, p. 330. 

Miramon, capture of, p. 181. 

Monitors, defects of, pp. 394, 395, 416, 
496. 

Morning Star, capture of, p. 214. 

Nashville, pursuit of rebel steamer, 
pp. 43, 211; destruction of, p. 
419. 

Negroes, condition of, pp. 75, 83. 

Onward, memorial of crew of, p. 275. 

Oreto, piratical cruise of the, pp. 

291, 293. 

Ouachita, capture of the, pp. 329, 353. 

Patras, English steamer, capture of, 
p. 174. 

Petrel, H.B. M. ship, presence of, in 
Charleston, p. 409. 

Planter, rebel steamer, brought out 
of Charleston, p. 168. 

Focotaligo, expedition to, p. 336. 

Port Royal, capture of forts at, pp. 
53. 56 et seq. 

Port Royal Ferry, operations at, pp. 
90, 91. 

Quarantine, establishment of, pp. 264, 

281. 

Raid on blockading fleet, pp. 39S et 
seq. 



ADM IRA I. S. F. DU PONT. 



531 



St. John's, operations in the, p. 315 
et seq. 

San Diego, occupation of, pp. i et seq. 

Sandwich Islands, visit of the Cyane 
to, pp. 19 et seq. 

San Jos6, engagement at, pp. 26 et 
seq. 

Santee river, expedition up the, pp. 
260, 261. 

Sarah, capture of the, p. 209. 

Saunders, Major Reid, capture of, p. 
p. 384. 

Savannah, harbor of, closed, p. 74. 

Scotia, capture of the, p. 331. 

Seabrook, escape of, p. 205; capture 
of, p. 230. 

Small, Robert, pilot of Planter, p. 
169. 



South -Vtlantic Blockading Squad- 
ron, departure of, from Hamp- 
ton Roads, p. 46; dispersion of, 
p. 49. 

Sproston, Lieutenant John G., death 
of, p. 196. 

Stono, occupation of, p. 181. 

Stono Inlet, seizure of, p. 222. 

Stimers, A. C, charges against, pp. 
478 et seq. 

Sumter, capture of boat's crew of 
the, p. 242. 

Tropic, destruction of the, p. 392. 

" 290," Laird gunboat, p. 293. 

Wabash, repairs of the, pp. 257, 258. 

Wassavv Inlet, fortifications at, aban- 
doned, p. So. 

Wave, capture of the, p. 348. 
Winyau Bay, occupation of, p. 179. 



.)GT 1958 



